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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266621">Case Four: Jay Ababwa</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR'>MelyndaR</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Auradon Social Services: Isle of the Lost Division [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Aladdin (1992), Aladdin (2019), Descendants (Disney Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Isle of the Lost (Disney) is a Terrible Place, Past Rape/Non-con, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:01:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>53,866</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jay froze for a second when he realized what the piece of paper was. “My DNA test.” He swallowed roughly, sliding the paper closer with trembling fingers. “You found my mom.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aladdin &amp; Jay (Disney), Aziz &amp; Jay (Disney), Aziz (Disney)/Original Female Character(s), Ben &amp; Evie &amp; Jay &amp; Mal &amp; Carlos de Vil, Ben &amp; Jay (Disney: Descendants), Evie &amp; Jay &amp; Mal &amp; Carlos de Vil, Jasmine &amp; Jay (Disney), Jay &amp; Audrey Rose (Disney), Jay &amp; Mal (Disney), Jay/Audrey Rose (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Auradon Social Services: Isle of the Lost Division [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854097</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>339</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is already set to be a lot longer than even the last one, and it's in no way near finished yet. However, I've polished the first nine or so chapters already, so I thought I'd give you guys a few chapters to get us over the first plot hurdle instead of making you wait until I've finished writing what's going to be a longer story before you get to read any of it. Feel free to let me know what you think of it so far!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I called you all here while we have a chance, because I have a question that I’m not sure is going to have an easy answer,” Mrs. Radcliffe said, her expression a little uncertain as she watched the four VKs settling into seats around her office.</p><p>With Carlos sitting on top her desk, and Mal and Evie taking seats in front of Mrs. Radcliffe, Jay leaned against Mal’s chair as his oldest friend asked, “What’s your question?”</p><p>“I contacted the genetics lab when I noticed a subset of VKs forming, and they put me in contact with the tech who’d taken these particular samples. She was approached on the Isle by a teenager who identified herself as Blanche Legume—” Evie’s shoulders tensed, slight and sudden, and Jay’s eyebrows drew together as Mrs. Radcliffe continued, “Blanche took the tech to a pub called The Three Drowned Fairies and gave her a collection of hair samples that she had collected herself. Those hair samples,” Mrs. Radcliffe produced almost a dozen DNA test results. “Are from the <em>children </em>of VKs.”</p><p>“What?” Mal asked in confusion.</p><p>“Teen parents,” Carlos explained carefully. “The fae that run the pub also run a children’s home from the old mining tunnels underneath it. They keep the home a secret to protect the kids. Blanche is their… link to the rest of the Isle.”</p><p>“Are these children that have been abandoned by teenage parents, then?” Mrs. Radcliffe asked.</p><p>”No!” Carlos yelped, as Evie nodded at the same time.</p><p>“Guys?” Mal asked, looking between the two friends. “Which is it?”</p><p>“No,” Carlos repeated firmly. “These kids haven’t been abandoned – not all of them, anyway – at least not in the traditional sense.”</p><p>“Carlos, what are you trying to say? Find one thought, and start there, please,” Mrs. Radcliffe requested with an evenness that said she’d gotten used to some of Carlos’ more scatterbrained moments.</p><p>He huffed. “Some of the kids at Drowned Fairies have been abandoned by VKs who couldn’t care less what happens to them, that’s true, and if you want me to, I can point those kids out to you. But. Some of those kids have been… given over to the fae because it’s a more stable living situation than living with their VK parents – some of the VKs really are trying to do what’s best for their kids.”</p><p>“That’s what I suspected,” Mrs. Radcliffe admitted, folding her hands on the tabletop. “Which leaves us with two or three ways of handling these children at the… Three Drowned Fairies. The children whose parents don’t care? They’re all still very young, and it would be almost easy to place them into proper adoptive families here in Auradon. Can we agree on that?”</p><p>The four VKs nodded.</p><p>“Carlos, since you seem to know the most about this place,” Mrs. Radcliffe handed him the DNA tests. “Could you sort out those children, please?” Carlos began to separate the DNA tests into two small piles as Mrs. Radcliffe continued, “Now, the more difficult decision to make would be what to do with the children whose VK parents <em>do </em>care about them. Do we separate parents and children by bringing only one to Auradon at some point?”</p><p>“Isn’t the goal to eventually bring <em>all </em>possible VKs to Auradon?” Evie asked, more of a reminder than anything.</p><p>“It is,” Mrs. Radcliffe agreed carefully. “But what do we do for the short-term, in the interim between when the families can be properly reunited here?”</p><p>Mal winced as she began, “I don’t love the idea of just separating families because we can, or because we deem it necessary, but if we can look at getting the little kids into foster families here while we try to get their parents over here too, I think we should. Just for <em>practical </em>reasons – better food and nutrition, more exposure to sunlight than they’ll ever get living underground. Honestly, I’ve heard of the Three Drowned Fairies pub, but never the children’s home underneath, and I get why it’s necessary in a place like the Isle, but it doesn’t sound healthy, and if we can clear it out, I think we should.”</p><p>“Is that the consensus?” Mrs. Radcliffe asked, glancing at the other three. “Adopt out the children who’ve been properly abandoned, foster care for those whose parents want reunification?”</p><p>“Yes,” Evie said as Carlos and Jay nodded.</p><p>“Mrs. R?” Carlos said hesitantly. “You’re missing a DNA test here.”</p><p>“I know,” she replied mildly as she turned to Carlos. Carefully, she asked, “In your estimation, the missing one, is that a case of willful abandonment, or is reunification the desired—”</p><p>“Yes. I mean,” Carlos blinked, slowing down so he could be clearly understood as he said, “Reunification should be the plan, definitely.”</p><p>“And is that common knowledge?” Mrs. Radcliffe asked, glancing around at the four of them.</p><p>Carlos shook his head, paling a little as he explained cryptically, “I’m the only one who knows anything.”</p><p>Mrs. Radcliffe nodded, saying with an air of finality, “Then we’ll discuss it further later.”</p><p>“Carlos, do you have a <em>kid</em>?” Mal blurted out what Jay was beginning to suspect.</p><p>“No!” Carlos assured her.</p><p>“Then how do you know so much about this children’s home if it was kept a secret from everyone who didn’t <em>need </em>to know?” Mal asked.</p><p>“A friend of mine brought me there once, and I’m not telling who, so don’t ask.”</p><p>Mal raised her eyebrows at Carlos’ nearly uncharacteristic firmness. “Okay, then.”</p><p>With a sudden, sickening twist in his stomach, Jay felt a little less confused than Mal, though. Carlos had very few friends on the Isle, and even less of them that he would square up against someone for. In fact, if Mal wasn’t the person who had taken him to the children’s home, and Jay sure wasn’t… that left one other option, the way Jay saw it.</p><p>He reached around the back of Mal’s chair to rest a hand on Evie’s shoulder, and if she noticed, she didn’t show it. Her stillness, though, spoke for itself in a different way, but no one else saw that as Mrs. Radcliffe held up a hand to regain control of the conversation as she said, “Just so we’re all clear, I will certainly take your sorting into consideration, Carlos, but I’m also going to write Yen Sid with the information I’ve been given. If he agrees with your assessments, I will begin seeking homes for the Drowned Fairies children accordingly.</p><p>“For now, I think that’s all I have to discuss, unless any of you four have something else?” They shook their heads, and the three who were seated stood up, getting ready to leave. “Wonderful,” Mrs. Radcliffe said. “I will talk to you all later, then. Miss Grimhilde, in particular, I wish to speak with you, if you could come back in about… fifteen minutes? At the moment, I am afraid I have a meeting, and someone who should be arriving—”</p><p>There was a knock at the closed office door.</p><p>Mrs. Radcliffe nodded approvingly, checking her watch. “—Any second.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do we need to stay for this meeting?” Mal asked.</p><p>“Quite the opposite, actually,” Mrs. Radcliffe murmured. “The woman I spoke to has thus far remained anonymous and requested a private meeting, so I really will have to ask you to leave.”</p><p>“Weird,” Carlos muttered under his breath, but the four VKs walked out together – past a woman in a complete burka outfit; <em>she really wasn’t kidding about anonymity, was she?</em> – as Evie assured Mrs. Radcliffe that she’d be back at the requested time.</p><p>“Good morning,” the woman greeted them as Jay lagged back to hold the door open for her.</p><p>“Good morning,” they replied.</p><p>She met Jay’s eyes – her own eyes, the only thing he could see of her, were a rich brown, and kind in a way that he couldn’t put his finger on – as she added, “Thank you.”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>Jay nodded with an easy smile, but before he could shut the door as she went in, the woman turned, saying suddenly to the four of them, “I want you to know that I think it’s wonderful, what you’re doing for the children on the Isle, fighting for people who have been forced towards a life of crime. I’m very sure it’s hard, but don’t give up on any of those kids, no matter what stands in your way.”</p><p>“Thank you.” Evie recovered first, giving the woman a grateful smile as she answered with the same conviction, “We won’t.”</p><p>The woman nodded, turning her back to them as Jay let the door to Mrs. Radcliffe’s office swing closed.</p><p>“And again,” Carlos muttered as they walked away together. “I say ‘weird.’”</p><p>“She was just trying to be nice and encouraging,” Evie objected. “And she has a point. Sometimes it is tiring to constantly be having these conversations, isn’t it?”</p><p>Carlos shrugged, admitting, “Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>Mal looked thoughtfully over her shoulder, back towards the ILD office as Jay asked her, “What’s the matter?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Mal replied, saying, “I just… thought I recognized her voice from somewhere, but I can’t place it.”</p><p>“No kidding,” Jay said with a soft laugh. “It’s no wonder you can’t remember her if she’s always dressed in a burka.”</p><p>Mal rolled her eyes at herself with a smirk. “Yeah, you’re right.”</p><hr/><p>That night, the woman from earlier in the day was the farthest thing from anyone’s mind as Jay settled onto one of the ornate couches in the Florians’ family room with Mal, Ben, and his parents. As they watched, Mrs. Radcliffe came on the news in the first of many interviews that had been set up for her to really begin promoting the ILD.</p><p>After the revelations of the past couple of weeks, namely that some people who were pretty close to innocent – at least in Jay’s opinion – had been sent to the Isle of the Lost over twenty years ago, Mrs. Radcliffe was being blunt in this interview.</p><p><em>“It is time that we stop allowing our fear of the people of our pasts to overwhelm how we help those who need us in the present,” </em>Mrs. Radcliffe said as she wrapped up the interview. <em>“So, if there is anyone out there, listening to me now, who’s willing to take in a VK – </em>especially <em>if you believe yourself to be a biological relation to a VK – please contact the ILD at the number at the bottom of your screen. Time is running out for some of these children; they need your kindness, and they need it now.”</em></p><hr/><p>“Mr.—Jay, hello,” Mrs. Radcliffe said a couple of days later as Jay stepped into her office.</p><p>“Hi,” Jay replied with a grin. “You, uh,” he shoved his hands deep into his pockets, feeling a little as if he’d been called into the principal’s office. “Wanted to see me?”</p><p>“I did,” Mrs. Radcliffe smiled encouragingly at him, saying, “Please, take a seat. By the way, for curiosity’s sake, what surname do you use?”</p><p>Jay shrugged. “A lot of kids on the Isle without real last names use their parents first names as their last names, like Evie Grimhilde.”</p><p>“You would like to be called Mr. Jafar, then?”</p><p>Jay winced, correcting mildly, “I would rather just be called Jay, if that’s okay with you.”</p><p>“Noted,” Mrs. Radcliffe agreed. “However,” she took a deep breath, her smile becoming a little more strained as she pushed a piece of paper across her desk to him. “I do have a couple of alternative surnames available to you now.”</p><p>“What do you m—” Jay froze for a second when he realized what the piece of paper was. “My DNA test.” He swallowed roughly, sliding the paper closer with trembling fingers. “You found my mom.”</p><p>Mrs. Radcliffe nodded, watching him read the paper.</p><p>
  <em>Mother:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jasmine Ababwa</em>
</p><p>“Oh my gods,” Jay managed as the air fled painfully from his lungs.</p><p>His limbs felt heavy and shaky and his chest hurt… so it took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn’t actually surprised. He was terrified, but he wasn’t surprised. <em>On some level that he wouldn’t admit to, he’d known for years. </em></p><p>“Jay?” Mrs. Radcliffe asked gently, searching his face. “Are you alright?”</p><p>Not sure he could manage talking yet, Jay just nodded.</p><p>“Would you like to meet them?” Mrs. Radcliffe asked uncertainly.</p><p>“Who?” Jay replied shakily.</p><p>“Sultan Aladdin and Sultana Jasmine. They’ve been in Auradon for nearly three days, waiting for the DNA test results to come back.”</p><p>“What?” Jay asked in confusion, focusing on one thing at a time, or else <em>everything </em>was going to start hitting him all at once. “I never heard they were staying at Beast’s Castle.”</p><p>“They were staying in a hotel, trying to keep a low profile until we all knew for sure,” Mrs. Radcliffe explained, still speaking gently to him, as if he was a wounded animal. <em>Maybe in some way, he was.</em></p><p>Jay blinked, something finally slotting together in a way that made sense. “They came three days ago? That was the lady in the burka?!”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“And they’re still here now?”</p><p>“They’re right down the hall, in fact. I can go get them whenever you’re ready, or if you don’t want to see them at all, I can tell them that, too.”</p><p>“Do they want to see me?” Jay asked in a voice that was so small he didn’t even sound like himself.</p><p>Mrs. Radcliffe smiled softly, answering, “They want to meet you quite badly, yes.”</p><p>Jay nodded his agreement, drawing in a shaky breath before he said, “Okay. Let’s do that, then.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mrs. Radcliffe walked out then, to go get Jasmine and Aladdin – <em>the sultan and sultana; Jay’s mother, the sultana </em>– and Jay focused on his breathing, on calming himself down so that he at least didn’t <em>look </em>like a lunatic when they came in.</p><p>For some reason, he had expected regal people in equally royal garb to come through the door; instead, there was a man in a plain tan tunic, and a woman in a simple teal sari, both of whom looked almost as nervous as he felt. Mrs. Radcliffe didn’t come back at all as the man reached around the woman and shut the three of them into the office together.</p><p>“Hello,” the sultana offered with an uncertain smile.</p><p>Jay lurched onto his feet as he realized that he should probably be standing in the presence of royalty, replying, “Hi.”</p><p>“I’m Aladdin,” the man offered, stepping forward first to bridge the gap between them and shake Jay’s hand firmly. He portrayed ease in a way that, from one street rat to another, Jay didn’t buy, but Aladdin <em>was </em>more relaxed than either Jasmine or Jay, that much was clear when he smiled and added, “But you probably knew that.”</p><p>Jay nodded. “I’m Jay. And, uh,” he turned to <em>her</em> – the sultana, his <em>mother</em>. <em>This was gonna take a second to sink in. </em>“You must be Sultana Jasmine.”</p><p>“I am.” The woman’s chest heaved with a breath as she said, “It’s… incredible to meet you.” Jay was horrified when a tear fell from her eye, and she wiped it hurriedly away, apologizing, “I’m sorry. I’m not normally like this, it’s just…” she shook her head. “It’s a lot. I always had a feeling, but…” she rolled her eyes at herself. “But I’m sure you don’t want to know everything right away.”</p><p>“I do,” Jay blurted, surprising even himself. “I want to know and understand whatever you want to tell me. I—” he stole her statement like the thief he was. “I always had a feeling, too, or at least for years I have. That,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “That you were my mom, I mean, but, but at the same time I didn’t want to be right, but I am, and I’m really, really sorry that—”</p><p>“Hey,” Aladdin cut firmly into the middle of his ramble, grabbing Jay by the shoulders to stare into his eyes. “Don’t you apologize for your dad. Nothing that he did is on you. We’re gonna make that clear right from the start around here, okay?”</p><p>Jay clamped his mouth shut and nodded, surprised to register that he’d begun to cry too. “Okay.”</p><p>“If anything,” Jasmine walked to stand beside Aladdin and took Jay’s hand in her own. “I should be apologizing for <em>my </em>father.”</p><p>“What?” Jay asked, wiping away his tears with his free hand.</p><p>“Here, sit,” Aladdin gestured to the chairs at the desk, and Jasmine led them there, sitting Jay beside Aladdin before she knelt in front of him and began to explain.</p><p>“After… we – Aladdin, my father, and I – discovered you were coming, I hid away in the palace until you were born, the week before the villains were transported to the Isle of the Lost. When you were born, you didn’t cry right away, and the doctor we’d employed whisked you away before Aladdin or I could see you.” Jasmine was trembling as she clutched Jay’s hand, turning away to draw in a slow breath before she turned back to him. “Aladdin waited with me for news, and eventually my father – not the doctor – came into the room. He told Aladdin and I that he’d dismissed the doctor, because there was nothing more to be done. My father told me that my son had been born dead. He lied to me – to us – and, for some Allah-forsaken reason that we’ll never know, he gave you to Jafar. But I always had a feeling that you had lived.” She reached up to cup his cheek, murmuring, “And I am so very glad that I was right.”</p><p>“You are?” Jay asked on an awe-stricken breath.</p><p>“Of course I am. Jafar be damned, you are <em>my son</em> as much as you are his. And if you’ll let us,” she added carefully, “Since he got the first twenty years of your life all to himself, we’d like to be involved in the next, oh, sixty or so.”</p><p>“Twenty years?” Jay muttered, his mind tripping over what he suddenly felt were probably some important, and most-likely obvious details.</p><p>Jasmine nodded. “You’re almost twenty-one years old. But… did Jafar lie to you about that, too?”</p><p>Jay nodded. “I thought I was sixteen; I’m only going to be a junior in high school!”</p><p>Aladdin didn’t even blink. “That’s okay. I could barely read when I married your mother.” He paused, looking between Jasmine and Jay with a huff of laughter as he repeated, “Your mother.”</p><p>Jay looked at Jasmine, trying to memorize her face, trying to find himself in her features. “My mom,” he said, leaning in to hug her instinctually, and his voice cracked as he began to cry all over again.</p><p>“My <em>son</em>,” she held on tightly, and this time she didn’t apologize when she started crying too.</p><p>The angle at which Jay was holding her was strained, though, so he moved to sit on the floor beside her, and so did Aladdin as he reached out and held them both through their tears.</p><p>Eventually, they calmed, sitting there on the floor together. “Here.” Aladdin handed Jay a handkerchief from the sleeve of his tunic and kissed Jasmine’s hair before he said, “In case it isn’t clear, you are more than welcome to come live with us.”</p><p>Jay wiped his eyes before asking, “With you two, in your palace in Agrabah?”</p><p>“Yes,” Jasmine agreed. “With Aladdin and I, and our seventeen-year-old son, Aziz.”</p><p>“I—” Jay hesitated. “I would love a chance to get to know you all, but Agrabah, Lone Keep, is so far away…”</p><p>“We would love to have you for the rest of your summer, and you can come back here to visit your friends as often as you would like,” Jasmine informed him, and Jay didn’t miss the desperation that flashed through her eyes, there and gone. “Before you return to Auradon for the next school year.”</p><p>“That sounds amazing,” Jay said. He very purposefully did not fidget as he asked, “But are you sure it’s a good idea?” At Jasmine’s confused look, he explained, “On the Isle, I was a thief, and a good one. It was how I earned my keep with my dad – by ‘stocking the shelves’ of his pawn shop. In my experience, people don’t really like it when I live in well-to-do places.”</p><p>“You’re currently living with the head of the country in his <em>ancestral castle</em>,” Jasmine pointed out dryly.</p><p>“At that ruler’s invitation,” Aladdin muttered darkly, understanding what Jay meant.</p><p>Comprehension dawned on the sultana’s face. “The <em>staff </em>doesn’t like it.”</p><p>Jay nodded. “Right.”</p><p>“Well,” Aladdin said. “What’s good for you, what’s good about Agrabah and the rest of Lone Keep, is that someone has already paved the way for reformed thieves to live in the palace. I don’t know who the poor sap is, but <em>someone </em>has already done it.” Jay smiled lopsidedly even as Aladdin became more serious while saying carefully, “You will find that our state has a slightly different view of some things than Auradon City and the ‘Big Three,’ if you come with us.”</p><p>“’The Big Three,’” Jay repeated. “I’ve heard that before. What’s it mean?”</p><p>“Cinderellasburg, Charmington, and South Riding – in this case, particularly Auroria, since Tangletown… lies somewhere between Charmington and Lone Keep in their collective opinion on integrating VKs. The Big Three is meant to reference the heart of what I’ve heard your friend, Mal, call ‘pretty pink princess country.’”</p><p>“Have you ever been to Agrabah, Jay?” Jasmine asked. “Or anywhere north of the Great Wall?”</p><p>Jay shook his head. “It’s at the top of my travel list, but I haven’t really been anywhere outside Auradon yet.”</p><p>“You’ll love it,” Jasmine promised confidently. “Come with us to Agrabah. Come <em>home</em>, to your family, to other Agrabahns. You won’t regret it.”</p><p><em>He believed her, </em>Jay realized as he agreed, “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll come live with you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The three of them talked for hours in the ILD office before Jay had to report to his nightly dinner with Mal and the Florians. “Are you sure you can’t come?” Jay asked Aladdin and Jasmine. “I’m sure the Florians wouldn’t mind having more dinner guests.”</p><p>“I’m sure they wouldn’t,” Aladdin agreed. “But Jasmine and I don’t really want to attract attention to this visit if we don’t have to.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay’s face fell.  “I get that.”</p><p>“Are you sure you do?” Jasmine asked with a frown, and Jay nodded. “Alright,” she replied softly. “Listen, Jay, Aladdin and I have to go back to Agrabah tomorrow morning. We have a private jet,” she was still watching him carefully as she offered, “And it’s got more than enough room for a third person to come with us, if you want.”</p><p>Jay cringed, saying apologetically, “I don’t think I can pack all my stuff that quickly.”</p><p>“Doesn’t King Adam have staff who could do that for you?”</p><p>“I’m sure he does,” Jay agreed slowly. <em>And the staff would probably be glad to do it if it got him out of Beast’s Castle. </em>“But how would we get it to Agrabah?”</p><p>“If you want, we’ll overnight it once it’s packed,” Jasmine answered.</p><p>Jay looked between her and Aladdin, checking uncertainly, “You really want me to come with you that bad?”</p><p>Jasmine reached for his hands, her grip as firm as her tone as she said, “<em>Yes</em>.”</p><p>“Alright,” Jay found himself agreeing again. “I’ll pack a bag, and I’ll come.”</p><p>Jasmine hugged him again, saying excitedly, “Thank you.”</p><p>Jay shook his head. “Thank <em>you </em>for giving me a chance.”</p><p>Aladdin arched an eyebrow as he clapped him on the shoulder. “That goes both ways.”</p><hr/><p>The following dinner with the Florians was the longest one that Jay have ever sat through, and nothing helped that fact when, as the meal ended, he said, “I have an announcement to make.”</p><p>The other four paused with surprise before Ben asked, “What announcement?”</p><p>Jay made sure he was looking mostly at Mal and Ben – his friends – as he said, “I’m leaving tomorrow morning to move to Agrabah for the summer. Mrs. Radcliffe’s found my family.”</p><p>Ben’s eyebrows drew together as Mal gaped for a second before she repeated, “Agrabah? As in Lone Keep? But that’s a two-day drive away!”</p><p>Jay shrugged uncomfortably. “We all know that’s where my family’s from. I hate that it’s so far away, but I <em>really </em>want to go, and I <em>really </em>want you to be happy for me.”</p><p>Ben reached out, taking Mal’s hand as he said, “We are. We’re happy for you, that you’ve found your family, but we’re sad for ourselves because we won’t see you as often this summer.”</p><p>“But we <em>will </em>see you?” Mal managed to make it both a question and a demand all at once.</p><p>Jay nodded. “Of course. And it will be only for the summer. I’ll be back at Auradon Prep for school in September, just like everyone else.”</p><p>“That’s fantastic,” Queen Belle gushed. “We’re so happy for you, Jay!”</p><p>And they were, Jay could tell, but some traitorous, pessimistic part of his mind wondered if they weren’t just as happy to get him out from under their roof. He pushed the unkind thoughts away, thanked them, explained what Jasmine had said about flying his things to Agrabah once they’d been packed, and made a quick exit to his guest room, fully expecting Mal to follow.</p><p>She did, and Ben came with her. “Jay,” she said, stepping up so that they were walking in stride. “Hold on. You never even said what family Mrs. Radcliffe found for you, or… anything!”</p><p>“Didn’t I?” he asked evasively, holding open his bedroom door and gesturing Mal and Ben in before him.</p><p>“No,” Ben agreed with Mal. “You didn’t. Should we be worried?”</p><p>“No,” Jay said placatingly. “It’s just… kind of a secret for now.”</p><p>Mal raised her eyebrows, eyed him sharply. “So, we’re just supposed to be okay with you going to a <em>secret</em> location all the way in Agrabah, what, by yourself? No.”</p><p>“I won’t be by myself; my parents are here.” <em>Which was closer to the truth than she realized.</em></p><p>“You keep calling them that,” Ben pointed out. “Referencing them as your <em>parents. </em>Did Mrs. Radcliffe find your biological mother? Is that who you’re going with?”</p><p>It wasn’t often that Jay froze when he was confronted with a difficult situation, but this was one of those times. Still, he decided to be as honest as he felt he could be while protecting the sultana until she was ready for the truth to be known.</p><p>“Yeah. She came to Mrs. Radcliffe, actually, with her own suspicion that I was the baby her dad had told her was stillborn years ago.”</p><p>“Ooh, how mysterious,” Mal hummed. “And intriguing.”</p><p>“Are you going to tell us who your mom is?” Ben asked.</p><p>Jay frowned apologetically as he shook his head. “It’s not really my story to tell.”</p><p>Mal hissed in through her teeth, realizing aloud, “It wasn’t her choice to… be with Jafar.”</p><p>“Mal,” Jay said protectively.</p><p>Mal held up her hands in surrender. “I’m not going to say anything else about it, alright? I’m done. Do Carlos and Evie know about any of this?”</p><p>“No, not yet. I came from meeting my family—” <em>how weird was that to say! </em>– “Directly to dinner.”</p><p>“Then we need to video chat with them right now,” Mal declared. “Because this is huge news, even if you are being stupidly secretive.”</p><p>Jay shot Mal another glare as she pulled out her phone and started a group call.</p><p>“Whoever this woman is,” Ben said quietly. “Her privacy is her prerogative, Mal.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure; I don’t mean to take away from that.” Ben arched his eyebrows, and Mal corrected, “Not intentionally, but how well does she think she’s going to be able to keep this secret when she’s moving her <em>son</em> in <em>with her</em>?”</p><p><em>She had a point, </em>Jay allowed with a there-and-gone twist of nerves in his stomach as Carlos’ face popped up on Mal’s phone screen. “Hey, guys.”</p><p>“Hi, Carlos,” Mal and Ben chorused.</p><p>Then Evie also answered her phone, and Jay added, “What’s up?”</p><p>“Jay has news,” Mal announced before Carlos or Evie could answer.</p><p>Annoyance flared in Jay’s chest and expression, and Ben said diplomatically, “Maybe we should let Jay tell things at his own speed?”</p><p>“It’s not like you to be so… bouncy, Mal,” Carlos observed.</p><p>“What?” she asked. “This is the last of us, guys; we all have families – <em>real </em>ones – and that’s a <em>huge </em>deal. I’m excited for us.”</p><p>Evie asked immediately, “Jay? Mrs. Radcliffe found a home for you?”</p><p>“M-hm.” Jay gave them a small smile. “She did.”</p><p>“Carlos, did you know about this?” Evie asked.</p><p>“No.” Carlos looked a little confused to have to admit, “She didn’t mention anything to me.”</p><p>“Does she usually talk to you about all the ILD cases?” Jay asked, not sure why he felt a thread of defensiveness rising.</p><p>“She usually runs things by me if she’s not sure something’s a good match. Like the family she’s found for Harriet and Harry, and whether or not Dizzy would really be okay in a boarding school. She’s never said anything to me about finding a definite match for you, Jay.”</p><p>“Then maybe,” Ben suggested. “She’s so sure of this match that she didn’t feel the need to get another opinion.”</p><p>“That would be nice,” Evie said.</p><p>Carlos asked, “Who’s the family? Where are they?”</p><p>Mal smiled, thin and sarcastic as she said, “You’re going to love this part.”</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay told Carlos and Evie the same things he’d told Mal and Ben: he was moving to Agrabah to live with his mom and her family for the summer, but he didn’t feel comfortable saying anything else. Unlike Mal – and for their own different reasons, Jay suspected – Carlos and Evie let him get away with that explanation.</p><p>Or so he’d thought.</p><p>Only a couple minutes after Jay had hung up the phone and told Mal and Ben “goodnight,” Evie called him for a one-on-one video chat. A sixth sense made nerves curl in Jay’s stomach, and for one cruel second, he considered not picking up the phone.</p><p>He answered anyway. “Hi, Evie,” he greeted her carefully. “Did you forget to say something?”</p><p>“No,” she looked at him kindly. “I waited on purpose. And then I debated calling you back at all. Then I called despite myself because I thought maybe there was something you might need to talk about.”</p><p>Jay pretended obliviousness, pretended to consider the offer. “No, I don’t think so.”</p><p>“Fine. In that case, I’m going to ask you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, and you’re going to give me a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.”  She didn’t wait for his objection or his agreement before she asked, “The jewel in her family’s crown, who’s name starts with ‘J’ – is Sultana Jasmine your mother? ‘Yes’ or ‘no?’”</p><p>Jay didn’t like the indecision that froze his breath in his throat. He wasn’t used to his loyalties being torn like this. He trusted Evie, and he wanted to… share his worries with her, but he felt a fierce, unexamined loyalty to Sultana Jasmine, to the woman who had also suffered at Jafar’s hand.</p><p>Apparently, he’d hesitated long enough that Evie felt the need to prompt, “Come on, Jay. Neither of us are stupid; you had to have had some idea of who your mom is. Based on what you told me, <em>I </em>even guessed!”</p><p>“Yeah, but now there’s a living, breathing person involved where before it was just this—this figment of my imagination, and—”</p><p>“Jay,” Evie cut him off with a worried look. “I’m not going to repeat <em>anything </em>you say to me here. You’ve figured out enough about <em>me</em> to know that…” She released a slow breath. “That I can understand the sultana’s pain.”</p><p><em>Evie really could be her own worst enemy at times, </em>Jay thought with a wince, because, no, he hadn’t been sure of anything of the sort, but Evie was so quick at times to assume that people saw her as the imposter that she viewed herself as.</p><p>Still, he shook his head, muttering the honest admission, “I’m not ready to talk about it. I… don’t know how.”</p><p>“Am I right about who it is, though?” Evie pressed, and Jay glanced away as he relented with a nod.</p><p>“Okay,” Evie murmured. “I won’t make you talk about anything, but if you’re ever ready to talk about it, I’m always going to be one call away.”</p><p>Finally, Jay gave her a small smile. “Thanks.”</p><hr/><p>Very early the next morning, Jay was horrified when Mal showed up at the airstrip with a duffel bag in hand, matching stride with him as he walked towards where Jasmine and Aladdin were waiting with their pilot. “<em>What </em>are you doing here?” he asked her sharply.</p><p>“Evie called me late last night and said she thought I should come with you to help get you settled in… wherever you’re going,” Mal explained with a purposefully relaxed shrug. “So, Carlos did some digging for us and found this private flight to Agrabah, we made an educated guess, and here I am.” She looked away from Jay, to the crest of Lone Keep across the side of the jet ahead of them, and said, “I guess that explains some things. The sultana’s your mom?”</p><p>“Mal,” Jay stepped up and in front of Mal, walking backwards while facing her, trying to get her to understand, “You can’t just invite yourself along like this! It’s—it’s rude.”</p><p>“<em>Rude</em>,” Mal repeated. “For me to want to help my friend through what’s going to be a difficult adjustment? No, I don’t think so.”</p><p>“Who says anything’s going to be difficult?” Jay challenged her.</p><p>Mal gave him a disbelieving look, though he couldn’t understand why, as she dodged him and hurried ahead.</p><p> As Sultana Jasmine boarded the jet, Aladdin met the two VKs in front of the stairs up to it, saying smoothly, “Lady Mal. I wasn’t aware we were to have the honor of your presence on this trip as well.”</p><p>Mal saw the polite challenge for exactly what it was and volleyed back with a cheerful smile, “To be fair, Jay didn’t know either.” Her smile turned hopeful – she was genuinely asking now – as she explained, “I’d like to help Jay settle into Agrabah, if I could stay with you for, say, three nights?”</p><p>Aladdin looked between Mal and a helpless, apologetic Jay, then back over his shoulder towards the jet – thinking of Sultana Jasmine, Jay knew. He turned back to Mal, agreeing, “Of course.” He gestured the teenagers ahead of him towards the jet, adding, “You’re a good friend to clear your schedule like this, in fact.”</p><p>Mal smiled, though the gesture flickered uncertainly at the edges in the face of his praise. “I try.”</p><p>Aladdin nodded, following her and Jay up the stairs as he thought something Jay couldn’t put his finger on and murmured, “That’s good.”</p><hr/><p>With Mal on the jet, too, a ride that Jay had a feeling would’ve otherwise been filled with conversation and getting to know one another now became quiet and contemplative, almost awkwardly so. The sultana slept half the day away as they traveled and worked on official-looking documents whenever she was awake. When he wasn’t helping his wife with said documents, Aladdin talked to Jay and Mal about what they could expect upon their arrival in Agrabah. Since the sultan and sultana had left their state quietly, their return to it would be equally understated, and that suited Jay just fine.</p><p>Even in a jet, they traveled until darkness fell before crossing state lines and entering Agrabah.</p><p>“Jay,” Sultana Jasmine said, speaking to him for the first time all day as she gestured him closer to her. “Come look.”</p><p>Jay leaned in to look where she pointed out the window. With buildings framed in ghostly shadows and lanterns and fires flickering below like multicolored fireflies, it didn’t so much take his breath away as it captured his imagination with the mysteriousness that even the skyline seemed to exude. The palace stood high in the middle of the desert city like a beacon, both beckoning him closer and making him want to shrink away from its grandeur.</p><p>“Welcome home,” Jasmine whispered, and Jay stilled when she put her chin on his shoulder to share his viewpoint. “What do you think?”</p><p>“It’s beautiful,” Jay answered truthfully, his voice quiet with awe and something that came pitifully close to fear.</p><p>“You’re going to love it,” she promised again. Leaning back to meet his eyes – seeing the worry that must’ve been in them – she added, “And Agrabah is going to love you.”</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay couldn’t manage to find a proper response to that before their pilot called back from the cockpit, “You’ll have to buckle up now, majesties.”</p><p>Jay sank back into the seat that had been Aladdin’s for most of the trip, and his mother took his hand as they began to descend. The jet landed at the back of the palace, and despite Aladdin’s promise of an “understated” arrival, Jay counted seven people waiting for them when they got off the jet. Two adults and a teenager headed directly for the passengers while the rest went to the jet itself.</p><p>“They’re just here for our luggage,” Aladdin whispered when he saw Jay’s confused look.</p><p>A second later, Aladdin was approached by one of the remaining two adults, and with a clipboard in the man’s hand, Jay had spent enough time around the Florians that he recognized a personal secretary when he saw one. The teenager and other adult – another assistant, Jay guessed – went to the sultana.</p><p>“The things of tomorrow will have to wait until tomorrow, Delia,” the sultana said, even as she gave her assistant a hug before adding, “For now, if you could get my satchel and send the completed documents inside to the appropriate dignitaries and councilmen?”</p><p>“Of course, sultana.” Delia gave her a respectful nod, asking, “And when would you like me to be in your chambers to help you prepare for bed?”</p><p>A look of comradery passed between the two women as Sultana Jasmine answered, “Directly after dinner, in about an hour, I think.”</p><p>“Very good.”</p><p>Delia gave Jasmine a parting smile and then vanished into the jet as the teenager who had been at the fore of the welcoming committee finally got a moment with the sultana. That was when Jay recognized him from tourney as his classmate, Aziz. Aziz Ababwah, Jasmine and Aladdin’s son – Jay’s younger half-brother. <em>Holy hell, he had a brother, </em>he realized for the first time, watching Jasmine and Aziz embrace.</p><p>Mal had been standing at his side, silently observing alongside him, but now she stepped even closer as she followed his line of sight. “You okay?” she whispered.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“That’s your little brother, huh?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he repeated, even though he knew perfectly well the thought hadn’t properly sunk in yet.</p><p>“Hey, why don’t you turn around?” Mal suggested.</p><p>So, he did, and he was suddenly staring up – and up – at the palace. It was a far different sort of imposing than the Beast’s Castle, he decided immediately, but he couldn’t dwell on it any longer than that before Jasmine said from behind him, “Jay?”</p><p>He and Mal turned back to her, and the teen at her side, as she introduced, “Jay, this is Aziz. Aziz, this is Jay.”</p><p>Aziz extended his hand to Jay, both boys pretending not to see their mother’s nervous glance between them as Aziz said, “Welcome to Agrabah, Jay, and to your new home.”</p><p>He gestured behind Jay to the palace, and Jay gave him a wide smile full of ease that he didn’t feel. “Thank you. It’s… amazing to be here.”</p><p>“I would imagine so,” Aziz said with a quiet chuckle, but there was an appraisal in his eyes that Jay didn’t miss even in the darkness as he offered, “Maybe you could get a quick historical or geographical download of sorts over dinner. Speaking of which,” he turned to catch his parents’ gazes as he said, “Dinner’s ready in the informal sitting room, per your request, if anyone’s hungry.”</p><p>“Yes, please,” Aladdin requested, slinging an arm around Aziz’s shoulders as he took Jasmine’s hand on his other side.</p><p>Jasmine reached back for Jay’s hand just as a sudden bout of nerves stabbed him in the stomach. He took her hand, and, in a move that wasn’t like him at all, reached for Mal’s hand, too, as the five of them made their way – <em>abreast of each other; this place was huge </em>– underneath an arch and into the palace courtyard. Firelight flickered from torches that were affixed to the brick and stucco walls as they made their way through the fancy courtyard and up the stairs that led into the palace proper, Aladdin’s assistant rushing to open the door for them.</p><p>Here at least, the five of them had to break apart, and Aladdin and Jasmine continued to lead the way with Aziz behind them, and Mal and Jay behind him.</p><p>If the courtyard had been fancy, then the interior of the palace was absolutely lavish with clearly ancient design patterns forming murals across the ceiling wherever molding wasn’t already present, marble flooring, velvet or beaded drapes, and golden accents along all the doorways and pillars.</p><p><em>If people hadn’t wanted him in the Beast’s Castle, was Aladdin </em>really <em>sure people were going to be okay with him being </em>here<em>?</em></p><p>“I forget,” Aziz said under his breath, stepping backwards to walk alongside Jay and Mal. “How… much this seems like to… people who are new to Agrabah. But, please, rest assured it is no more than any other royal home – a place to live, and to conduct the business of our people.” He gave Jay a mirthful, pointed look. “No one will mind if you remember to <em>breathe </em>within these walls.”</p><p>From one statement – from one expression – to the next, Aziz had stopped being a prince of Agrabah and become Jay’s tourney teammate, a little looser, a little more roguish, and something loosened within Jay when he suddenly realized that his own broad, bright smile was being reflected back at him from Aziz’s friendly face.</p><p>
  <em>How weird was that? And how had no one noticed it during their school year together?</em>
</p><p>Jay chuckled, halfway just to make himself start breathing again, and aimed an elbow for Aziz’s ribcage. “I guess they wouldn’t, huh?”</p><p>“It would be terribly inconvenient if you passed out <em>before </em>I get to eat,” Aziz deadpanned quietly. “Be a pal and wait until afterwards?”</p><p>Jay looked around him again at the very literally palatial surroundings as he agreed, “I’ll try my best.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner was a relatively peaceful affair. They sat on cushions around a coffee table where a small buffet spread had been set out, and Aladdin and Jasmine – but mostly Aladdin – explained Mal’s and Jay’s accommodations to them, along with the plan for the next few days, since Mal would be with them for that time.</p><p>“Mal, Dalia and Genie’s daughter, Jordan, is going to accompany you as your companion while you’re here,” Jasmine said.</p><p>“Oh, cool,” Mal replied happily. “I know her from school.”</p><p>“Wonderful,” Jasmine remarked.</p><p>Aladdin took over, then, saying, “And, Jay, a son of one of the palace guards – his name is Rafi – is set to become your assistant.”</p><p>“Assistant?” Jay repeated. His eyebrows drew together as he asked, “Am I really going to need a whole assistant?”</p><p>“Well,” Aladdin said with a lopsided smile. “You’ll have a part-time one, anyway, to make sure that you remember your own schedule, and to help you with preparation for various things and events. I know that it seems like a lot—” Aladdin maintained steady eye contact, making sure Jay understood as he repeated, “Really, I get it, and I’m here to help you however I can – but this is an actual part-time job for Rafi,  and he’s really excited to take it on, so I hope you’ll make it a good experience for him.”</p><p>Jay bit the inside of his cheek, but nodded, smiling a little at the encouraging smile that Mal gave him as she remarked, “I’m sure it’ll be no different than the interactions that Doug and Ben have, or Jane and I, and you’re used to those, right?”</p><p>That <em>did </em>help a little, and Jay agreed a bit more readily, “Yeah, okay.”</p><p>But a weird awareness was creeping into his mind, making his ears start to ring and his nerves start to sing. He had to make himself concentrate as Aladdin continued, “We’ll start slow with everything, Jay, I promise, for a number of reasons. Tomorrow, the only thing on your docket is a fitting with a designer and tailor so that they can make you a few outfits for… high-brow events, otherwise we don’t really care what you wear around here most of the time. The day after that, your stuff should be here, so you’ll have a couple days to unpack and get really settled in. Then, for about a week, we have a few academic tests planned so that we can get an idea of where you’re at academically, culturally, socially – all those fun things – so that we can help you adapt and succeed to your full potential here, as a part of our family. From there, we’re just going to take things as they come, alright? Hey,” Aladdin gave him another once-over, asking, “Are you okay?” Jay nodded, but Aladdin repeated, “I know it seems like a lot, but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that none of this overwhelms you, okay?”</p><p>Jay nodded, repeating, “Okay.”</p><p>He didn’t think anyone said anything else as they turned their attention back to the meal, but he couldn’t have been sure. He was too focused on the realization overtaking his mind: <em>being Jasmine’s son made him an actual </em>prince<em>!</em></p><p>Mal saw how out of it he became long before the other three did, and he only halfway noted how expertly she covered for him until the meal ended.</p><p>“Good night, Mother. Good night, Father,” Aziz said, giving the sultana a kiss on the cheek before he turned to Mal and Jay and offered, “I’ll walk you to your rooms.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Mal said for both Jay and herself, and then, “Thank you again, Sultan, Sultana, for your hospitality.”</p><p>“Certainly, Lady Mal,” Aladdin replied with a smile. “We’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to Jay, saying, “Good night, Jay.”</p><p>Automatically, without allowing himself to think about it too much, he replied, “Good night, Sultan. Good night, Sultana.”</p><p>He hurried away so quickly, he almost passed Aziz even though he had no idea where he was going in the echoing halls. Then they turned a corner down another hall, and he saw Jordan waiting with two teenage boys.</p><p>“Hi, guys,” Jordan greeted them, and her casual approach helped Jay instinctively relax.</p><p>“Jay, Lady Mal,” Aziz made the proper introductions. “This is my assistant, Ahmed, and, Jay, your assistant, Rafi, and you both know Jordan. This is also where I tell you all ‘good night.’”</p><p>“Good night,” the others chorused, and Ahmed followed Aziz into the nearest room.</p><p>“Mal,” Jordan waved Mal forward. “Your room is the next one down, and, Jay, yours is directly across from Zizzi’s.”</p><p>“<em>Zizzi</em>!” Jay and Mal repeated incredulously.</p><p>Jordan smirked at them, saying, “In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of do what I want, for the most part, and Aziz and I grew up together. He’s like my weird twin brother by now, so, yeah. Zizzi. Because I can.”</p><p>“That is best thing I have heard all day,” Mal declared merrily, following Jordan into the bedroom beside Jay’s.</p><p>Left alone with him, Jay turned to look at Rafi as the very serious kid who <em>might </em>have been fifteen opened the door to Jay’s new bedroom and requested, “This way, please.”</p><p>Despite Aladdin’s assurances that the kid was excited about his new job, he didn’t look it. He looked almost as terrified as Jay felt, and big brother instincts poked their way through Jay’s worry so that he smiled at Rafi as he went into the bedroom and looked around. “Thanks.” Rafi smiled uncertainly in return before Jay asked, “So, no offense, but,” he pointed to his bag on the bed. “There’s my stuff, and I can definitely get ready for bed on my own, so… why are you here, again?”</p><p>Rafi’s smile wavered as he turned to tack a piece of paper to a small circle of cork on the back of Jay’s bedroom door. “Just to touch base with you about your day and give you this.”</p><p>“What is it?” Jay asked, peering suspiciously at the piece of paper.</p><p>“Your schedule for tomorrow. It’s just your consultation with a designer, and a fitting with a tailor. Altogether, it should probably take an hour and a half; the rest of the time is yours to explore the palace. I have been asked to request that you do not leave palace grounds, though.”</p><p>“Why?” Jay asked suspiciously.</p><p>“Because none of the general populace knows you’re here, yet, and having people ask questions before the palace is ready with an official response could… cause issues,” Rafi admitted carefully.</p><p>“Alright,” Jay agreed understandably. “In that case, I’ll behave.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Rafi said, a ghost of a smirk and a properly courtly bow. “And good night.”</p><p>“Good night, Rafi,” Jay replied, and then he was left alone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As he got ready for bed, Jay was momentarily distracted by the thought that Rafi reminded him a little of Carlos, not at all in the way they looked, but in how they carried themselves. Except Rafi, Jay could already tell, was more… <em>dignified</em>.</p><p>He settled upon that word as he settled into bed for the night, but as he did so, he forgot all about Rafi as his other worries and realizations from the evening came back to him. <em>He was a </em>prince, <em>and probably in line for the throne, and </em>definitely <em>going to cause scandal when the truth came out about his parentage, and</em>—and he tossed and turned for what felt like an hour but was, when he checked his phone, only about ten minutes before someone knocked softly on his door.</p><p>“Come in?” Jay said, sitting up.</p><p>Aziz slipped into the room, with Mal behind him as Jay turned on a bedside lamp. When Aziz shut the door, Mal asked Jay, “Are you okay? No offense, but you zoned <em>really </em>hard over dinner.”</p><p>“I didn’t want to draw attention to it,” Aziz said, “But Dad definitely noticed, and if there’s anything I c—”</p><p>“Did you guys realize I’m a <em>prince</em>?!” Jay blurted out.</p><p>Mal took a deep breath, glancing at Aziz to see how that settled with him as she muttered, “And <em>that’s </em>why Evie wanted me here.”</p><p>Aziz took a deep breath of his own, released it slowly as he admitted, “I did know that, yes. Did <em>you</em>?”</p><p>“I—it just kind of hit me over dinner, and I’m kind of freaking out about it,” Jay admitted,  and before either of the other two could respond, he blurted out the terrifying thought as it came to him. “Who’s first in line for the throne? Me or you?!”</p><p>Mal reached out to put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him as Aziz explained carefully, “The lineage to the throne is now traced directly through the royal line, not the man in a relationship so, since Mom’s the biological royal, and you’re her oldest biological son, you’re first in line for the throne.”</p><p>Jay laughed a little maniacally, throwing his blanket off to surge to his feet and pace. “That’s crazy! I’m an Isle kid, a <em>VK</em>, I can’t be a royal! I can’t run a kingdom!”</p><p>“Jay, what are you <em>talking </em>about?” Mal asked sharply.</p><p>Aziz said, “You can, and you will. One day. No time soon, though.”</p><p>“Listen.” Mal stood up, getting in Jay’s way as she made him stop and focus on what she was saying. “Listen to us here, okay. Aziz, go.”</p><p>“You are now set to one day rule Lone Keep, yes,” Aziz explained levelly to Jay, brothers who didn’t know each other even though they stood across the room from one another. <em>There was no part of this that wasn’t weird as hell, </em>Jay decided as Aziz continued patiently, “But not for a long, long time. In the north, leadership, the crown, doesn’t get passed down until the previous rulers feel a <em>need </em>to step away from their duties, and I <em>promise </em>you, Mom isn’t going to trust anyone to do her job for a <em>long </em>time. You’ll be <em>easily </em>in your forties before the idea of you sitting on a throne even comes up in conversation. So, breathe. And forget about that part of things because it’s not relevant yet, okay?”</p><p>“Okay.” Jay obediently took a deep breath, repeating, “Kingship is irrelevant for now.” Hopefully, he asked, “Does that mean the prince thing goes away too?”</p><p>Mal and Aziz both shook their heads as Mal broke it to him, “No. But – and I <em>really </em>need you to listen to me here, Jay – on the Isle – listen to me – even here, in Auradon, you see kids who are smaller than you, outcasts, whatever, and you protect them. I saw that in you, and you became someone I wanted to have my back, and we both know how rare that is, how much of a compliment that should be to you. My point is,” she held up her hands, realizing she was about to get off her own topic. “That you’re a natural leader, and you’re going to be fine as a prince.”</p><p>“Yeah, but being a prince here is way different than—than keeping Carlos from getting his ass kicked in Dragon Hall!”</p><p>“Oh, I know,” Mal said immediately. “But you can do both, and you can do both equally well. As someone who has figured out how to both herself – both lead on the Isle and become an Auradonian royal – I believe that about you, okay? Now, all you have to do is prove me right.”</p><p>“What if I prove you wrong?” Jay asked, sitting heavily on his bed.</p><p>Mal sat down beside him, leaned over to put her head on his shoulder as she promised firmly, “You won’t.”</p><p>“You’ll have too much help, I think,” Aziz added, sitting down on Jay’s other side. “From both of us, from my – our – parents, from the staff here, from…”</p><p>Mal took up where Aziz trailed off, “—From your friends at school, the other VKs in Auradon, even Ben, Jane, and Doug. We’re all here for you, and we’re all going to do our best to make this as painless for you as possible, like the sultan said. You got it?”</p><p>Jay wrapped an arm around Mal, needing the hug as he repeated, “I got it.”</p><p>“Good.” Mal returned his hug, then shoved off his bed, ordering, “Now, sleep. I want to explore this palace in depth tomorrow.”</p><p>Jay grinned fondly despite his only mostly calmed worry as Mal and Aziz left him for the night. “Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, turning off the light and laying back down.</p><hr/><p>It was nearing ten when Jay finally began to stir the next morning, and he suddenly realized as he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, that he had no idea what he was supposed to do when he woke up, or began to get ready for the day. Was he being ridiculous in the first place, or where there protocols? Was he supposed to contact Rafi? Could he even choose his own clothes for the day? Rafi was supposed to be his stylist, after all, wasn’t he, or was that only for days when there were going to be events? Did a fitting count as an event?</p><p>Feeling uncertainty began to knot his stomach, he texted Mal his list of questions in a bid to stop himself from going too far down any rabbit holes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mal barged into his bedroom five minutes later with Rafi in tow as she teased blithely, “Look who finally decided to join the land of the living!” Jay shot her a look from underneath his blankets as Mal shut the door before continuing more seriously, “Alright, my friend, <em>you </em>cannot do this to yourself. Stop with the overthinking – stop it before it gets too bad – or you’ll go insane. Trust me. Now, up. Rafi,” Mal turned to the boy at her side, handing him her phone as she asked, “Would you like to answer these questions, please?”</p><p>Rafi read what Jay was pretty sure was his text to Mal with increasingly raising eyebrows before he looked back at Jay and said, “My apologies. Clearly there was more that needed explained last night than what I realized. No, there are not ‘protocols,’ exactly, but you won’t find a single royal home in Auradon where family members emerge from their bedrooms still in their pajamas. Personally, I think it’s the pervading worry over paparazzi that keeps them from doing it, but that’s neither here nor there. So. Dress before you leave your bedroom, and make sure your hair looks presentable, but beyond that, for today, there’s no particular thing you have to wear. You pick out whatever clothes you want for yourself today.”</p><p>“The tailor doesn’t count?” Jay double-checked.</p><p>“Definitely not,” Rafi said with an affirming nod. “In fact, I’d say for a designer and tailor, it’s all the more important that they see what your personal style is, wouldn’t you?”</p><p><em>He had a point, </em>Jay admitted, emerging from his blankets to rifle through his duffle bag of clothes. He threw a t-shirt, vest, and pair of jeans onto the bed, asking, “How’s that?”</p><p>“Fine,” Rafi assured him again. “For the next, oh, two weeks, I’d say, you can wear whatever you want, as long as it’s – you know – <em>decent.</em>” Mal scoffed as Jay shot Rafi a baffled look, and Rafi held up his hands, assuring them, “I’m joking. It wasn’t a serious comment.” Rafi looked at Jay with something like compassion in his eyes as he offered, “Lighten up.”</p><p>Jay drew in a deep breath, standing to gather his clothes for the day before he asked, “What happens after two weeks?”</p><p>“The royal family will be returning to Auradon City to announce your… position here,” Rafi replied. “And as far as clothes are concerned, that’s when you’ll be living from a suitcase of things that I’ve packed for you in light of all the media coverage you’ll have at that time.”</p><p>“<em>Fabulous</em>,” Jay breathed dryly.</p><p>“But for today,” Mal stepped forward and shoved him in the direction of the bathroom. “You’re pretty much being given a lazy day, so go get ready, and for goodness sake, <em>relax</em>.”</p><p>Jay obediently dressed and brushed his teeth, then opened the bathroom door as he brushed his hair. He made it halfway back to his duffle bag to grab a beanie before he caught sight of himself in the full-length mirror on the bedroom wall and stopped. He still looked exactly like a VK, and nothing like the prince that he was supposed to be.</p><p>“What are you thinking?” Mal asked, taking a step closer to him with her head tilted to the side while she studied his expression.</p><p>“Nothing.” Jay gathered his hair into his hand and began to twist it up into a topknot – the hairstyle he defaulted to for special occasions, because at least that was better than nothing, right?</p><p>Mal narrowed her eyes at him, with a good enough idea of what he was doing, and even though she sighed at him, she still went to scrounge up some bobby pins from the bottom of his bag.</p><p>“Hey,” Rafi looked down at his phone as Jay finished putting up his hair. “Are you hungry?”</p><p>“A little,” Jay admitted. “Why?”</p><hr/><p>The sultana was waiting for Jay in the back courtyard near where they’d landed the jet the night before, and she was sitting on more pillows at another coffee table. This one was spread with brunch food this time, but Jay barely noticed the food, or, in fact, Jasmine, thanks to the tiger that was lying languidly by the sultana’s side.</p><p>“What…” he froze just inside the archway, but caught himself, trying to school his expression into something a little more neutral as he finished poorly, “Is this?”</p><p>Jasmine smiled fondly. “This is Razia,” she informed him, running a hand through the tiger’s fur. “Our family pet.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay said mildly, still eyeing the tiger as it eyed him.</p><p>Jasmine chuckled. “You can come closer; she won’t hurt you. Will you, Razia?” Jasmine cooed. To a tiger. Whose head was lying in her lap. Because that was apparently something that happened in Agrabah.</p><p>Jay hesitantly approached the table but didn’t sit.</p><p>“Come here,” Jasmine cajoled. “Trust me. She’s harmless. Well, as long as she likes you, she’s harmless.”</p><p>Jay slid around the cat to crouch down beside his mother. When she held out her hand, he laid his palm in hers, and she guided his hand into the striped fur. He grinned disbelievingly as he watched his fingers sink into the thick fur.</p><p>“I know, right?” Jasmine asked with a grin of her own.</p><p>“Hi, Razia,” Jay said quietly. “I’m Jay.” She blinked slowly at him, apparently accepting a second person petting her as he asked Jasmine, “How did I not realize you had a whole tiger stowed away somewhere?”</p><p>“She was waiting for Aladdin and I in our chambers last night, instead of roaming the halls.”</p><p>“She sleeps in your room?” he asked with upraised eyebrows.</p><p>Jasmine shrugged. “I’d say she’s a little more intimidating than a guard dog, wouldn’t you?”</p><p>“Definitely,” Jay agreed on a laugh. “What about the other one, Raja?”</p><p>Jasmine nodded towards a gnarled tree by the courtyard wall. “He’s buried there. Razia’s actually his daughter.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay’s smile tipped downward. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s alright. Life… moves on. And now,” she smiled at him again. “Razia is getting ready to have her own cubs.”</p><p>“Really? That’s cool.” He looked back at the tiger, saying, “Congrats, Razia.”</p><p>“It’ll only be a couple more weeks now,” Jasmine declared before asking him, “Are you hungry?” Jay gave Razia one more gentle pat before moving to sit across from his mother. She drank her tea as he filled a saucer with eggs and fruit, then she drew in a quiet breath before saying, “I want to apologize.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay shot her a startled look, asking, “For what?”</p><p>“For…” she traced a fingertip around the rim of her teacup, wiping the moisture on her napkin as she replied, “’Zoning out’ so much yesterday, on the flight home. I… do that occasionally. I focus on busywork, sometimes without even meaning to, while I’m trying to properly process something else. Suffice it to say, that I have a lot to process and try to understand this week, and I <em>desperately</em> want to work through it without letting my…” she sighed deeply. “Without letting my usual temper cloud things. But.” Jasmine straightened, smoothing out her napkin on the tabletop. “That’s no excuse for me to give you a silent treatment as I did yesterday.”</p><p>The more she talked, the more confused Jay got, and he knew he was looking at her in bewilderment by the time she met his gaze again. “I didn’t think you were. Or if you were, I didn’t realize it. I know – or I assume – you’re a busy person, and I just saw you working. I didn’t…” he shook his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”</p><p>“Even though I invited you into my home, and then immediately ignored your presence?” Jasmine asked dryly.</p><p>“Because you were working,” Jay repeated, stubborn, but lightly returning sass for sarcasm. “Taking care of Lone Keep, like you’re supposed to.”</p><p>“I am <em>also </em>supposed to take care of my children.”</p><p>“Well, Aladdin was talking enough for all the rest of us, anyway,” Jay finally declared dismissively. “So, it’s fine. Really, completely fine.”</p><p>“Alright,” Jasmine allowed, dropping the topic with a careful smile. She ate a grape, studying Jay as he poured himself a cup of tea while trying to compose his own thoughts. “What is it?” she asked after a silent moment. “You can tell me; I can take it.”</p><p>Still, Jay chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second before saying worriedly, “I guess <em>I’m </em>sorry if I’m – my being here – is the thing that’s bothering you.”</p><p>She was already shaking her head. “No, Jay. No. I’m not upset with you at all. I’m upset with my father,” she corrected.</p><p>“Why?” Jay asked carefully, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.</p><p>“Because he was a good man, and my best friend as I grew up, and because heh was those things, I can understand his way of thinking, to a point. I can understand why he kept us apart – you and I, I mean. But I cannot understand why he gave you over to Jafar, of <em>all </em>people. I just can’t, and I’m having trouble reconciling that. All of it. Especially since I seriously doubt Jafar would ever be forthcoming with any answers.”</p><p>“No,” Jay scoffed. “Probably not.”</p><p>“Which means we’re probably never going to have the full story, and I hate it.”</p><p>Carefully, not sure the thought would be anywhere near enough, Jay offered hesitantly, “We’ll have each other, though, right?”</p><p>Something uncertain loosened in his chest as Jasmine smiled while assuring him, “We will. And I am… working on becoming content with that.” She reached for his hand. “In the meantime, I’m telling you again, just in case, that my… moods are never your fault, not as it relates to where you came from. Alright?”</p><p>“Alright,” Jay repeated with a thin smile.</p><p>Jasmine squinted at him, saying shrewdly, “You don’t have to believe me yet, but you will eventually.”</p><p>Jay opened his mouth to object, but her expression didn’t change, and he decided not to chance insulting her with a lie. “Are you… I just don’t want to hurt you by being a… a reminder that’s always hanging around.”</p><p>She squeezed his hand hard, her jaw becoming stubbornly set. “You are my son, and I want you ‘around’ because you are my son. Mine. I don’t have to consider Jafar if I choose not to.”</p><p>“Is it really that simple?” he asked skeptically.</p><p>“Not always,” she admitted. “But you’re worth it.”</p><p>A throat was cleared delicately from the palace steps, and Jasmine and Jay looked over to see Delia approaching. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she began. "But you’ll need to leave soon.”</p><p>“The fitting,” Jasmine nodded. “Of course.” She smiled at her assistant. “Thank you, Delia. Are the others ready as well?”</p><p>“Lady Mal, Jordan, and Rafi are waiting in the car, yes.”</p><p>“Aziz and Aladdin?” Jay asked curiously.</p><p>“Aziz has an appointment at a hospital,” Jasmine informed him as Delia slipped away. “For charity work – he’s healthy; don’t worry – and Aladdin is in a meeting with the minister of agriculture.”</p><p>“Sounds fun,” Jay murmured as Jasmine downed her tea.</p><p>“It’ll be your job one day,” she reminded him gamely. “But not today. Today you just get new clothes.”</p><p>Seeing that she was getting to her feet, Jay grabbed a pita, held it between his teeth as he jumped to his feet, and gave her a hand to hers. He wasn’t entirely prepared for her to leave her arm on his, but he adjusted without letting his surprise show as he left his elbow crooked and ate his pita while they trekked through the palace.</p><p>“I’ll have to start my palace exploration when we get back,” Jay commented.</p><p>“You should,” Jasmine agreed. “Maybe if Aziz is back by the time we are, he could be your guide.”</p><p>“That’d be cool,” Jay remarked as they stepped back out underneath the burning Agrabahn sun.</p><p>Rafi climbed from the driver’s seat and opened the backseat door. Jay scooted across the seat to sit in the middle by Mal, and when Jasmine sat beside him, Rafi shut them in and started back towards the driver’s seat.</p><p>Jay leaned forward to tap Jordan on the shoulder where she sat in the passenger seat. “Is he old enough to drive?” he hissed, wondering if it would be safer for him to drive them himself.</p><p>Jordan’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Who? Rafi? Yeah. He’s got a baby face, but he’s actually—” she hesitated, and as Rafi got back in, she asked, “How old are you, Raf?”</p><p>“Seventeen,” Rafi pulled away from the palace, and, sensing he’d missed something, he asked, “Why?”</p><p>“No reason,” Jay replied, sitting back in his seat.</p><p>“How old did you think I was?” Rafi asked knowingly.</p><p>Jay hesitated before admitting, “Fourteen or fifteen. What about you?” he asked with careful curiosity. “How old do you think I am?”</p><p>Rafi shrugged. “We all know what grade you’ll be in, in school, and that means you’re sixteen or seventeen, right?”</p><p>Jay shrugged too, suddenly uncomfortable as he said, “Something like that.”</p><p>Curiosity flashed through Rafi’s and Jordan’s eyes, but neither of them commented. Jasmine covertly ran a soothing hand down his arm while she began to point out the scenery as a way of changing the subject.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So,” the fashion designer sat with a sketchpad in front of her. “What’s your color scheme, Jay?”</p><p>“My what?”</p><p>“Your colors,” Mal repeated for the woman. “The colors your known for, your theme colors. I have purple, green, and black, E does navy, red, and gold, Carlos has red, black, and white. What are your colors?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Jay said, feeling lost in the midst of the designer’s workroom. <em>Where was Evie when he needed her? </em> Instead of Evie, he turned to Jasmine, asking, “What are the royal colors?”</p><p>Jasmine shook her head. “We don’t particularly have any, besides gold.”</p><p>“That’s not what she asked anyway,” Mal pointed out.</p><p>“Okay,” Jay said, looking down at his own clothes and suspecting he was saying something Mal considered obvious as he replied, “I wear a lot of maroon, brown, and gold. Is that what you mean?”</p><p>“That’s exactly what I need to know, yes,” the designer replied. “Now, you have all the casual clothes you need, right, so we’re just focusing on formalwear for now?”</p><p>Jay glanced at Jasmine, who nodded for him. “Yes.”</p><hr/><p>Aziz was waiting for them when they returned to the palace. Jordan, Rafi, and Jasmine slipped away to do other things as Aziz told Mal and Jay, “Ahmed informed me I was to give you a palace tour?”</p><p>“Only if you have time,” Mal said.</p><p>“Otherwise,” Jay added. “We are totally okay with going exploring on our own.”</p><p>“Nah, I’d be glad to do it.” Aziz grinned charmingly at Mal, offered her his arm. “M’lady?”</p><p>“Why, thank you.” Mal tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, returning his phony pomp for her own.</p><p>“Then we’ll start here, I suppose, with the front gate.” Aziz was still goofing off as he waved an arm grandly at the front of the palace… and it was a place that was grand enough to match the gesture, Jay thought.</p><p>
  <em>At least from the outside…</em>
</p><p>As Aziz continued their tour inside – with Jay tracking exits and windows, “casing the joint” as a manner of speaking, all the better to remember the layout and get his bearings – he noticed that his half-brother was skipping over whole wings in their tour. Finally, he asked, “What about that hall, and the other wings? Aren’t you skipping parts?”</p><p>“I am,” Aziz agreed. “Because we don’t use them. They’re not even furnished anymore.”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Mm—” Aziz paused, and Jay watched his jovial manner slip away as he said, “It was a decision Mom and Dad made when they became sultan and sultana. They sold off most of the furnishings for the wings that are now unused and boarded those areas up – at least from the inside – so that they don’t have to be heated and cooled and such. Then they lowered taxes and reallocated other funds where they could in an effort to lower the homeless population and adjust the poverty line.”</p><p>“They took cuts to their own cost of living so that they could make their kingdom richer,” Mal simplified what Jay was only mostly sure Aziz had been trying to say, and Aziz nodded.</p><p>“Dad… had a very strong point of view about the… wage differentiation, shall we say, when he came into power, and, given what she’d learned through his experiences, so did Mom. So, they did something about it.”</p><p>“That’s pretty cool,” Jay said approvingly.</p><p>“I think so too,” Aziz agreed with a proud smile. “Now we only keep five areas of the palace open: the ‘business’ main area where royal business affairs are conducted, the servants quarters upstairs, the royal family’s quarters beside the main area, guest quarters beside that, and a storage area downstairs with the kitchen.”</p><p>“And I thought I saw a stable outside?” Mal asked curiously.</p><p>“You did.” Aziz nodded. “We have twenty horses, as many camels, and six elephants, along with things like chickens, cows, goats, silkworms, etcetera.”</p><p>“No more lemurs and peacocks?” Jay asked, only half-kidding. <em>It would’ve been pretty cool to see some of those.</em></p><p>“No,” Aziz replied apologetically. “Mom keeps a few doves that she’s raised that can’t be reliably released and trusted to fend for themselves, Dad has a couple monkeys, and—” he whipped towards Jay, asking as the idea occurred to him, “Have you met Razia yet?”</p><p>“I have,” Jay replied with a grin.</p><p>“Beyond those, we try not to keep – and therefore have the upkeep on – exotic pets that… don’t give us some sort of… return, you know? Agrabah – the city itself – has always had a… steeply segregated class line, and Mom and Dad are all about giving funds where they can to create a middleclass. Or at least to keep their people above the poverty line.”</p><p>“That’s fantastic,” Jay said again.</p><p>Aziz nodded. “I think we would all agree. It’s certainly helped to endear them to their people.”</p><p>“I’d bet so,” Jay agreed. After all, the thought that his new family was willing to look after the “everyman” to that degree helped put even him a little more at ease, in a way.</p><hr/><p>That night, as Rafi followed Jay into his bedroom for the evening, his assistant declared, “So, I don’t know if you noticed, but your things didn’t come in today as planned. There was a mix-up going through Camelot, so tomorrow is now a day for you to do whatever you want, and then the day after that is going to be the only day you have to unpack your things before the academic assessments start.”</p><p>Jay shrugged casually. “I don’t have <em>that </em>much stuff; it’ll take less time to unpack it than it did to pack it, so I should be okay to do it within a day.”</p><p>“And I’ll be around to help if you need me,” Rafi reminded him.</p><p>Jay smiled. “Thanks, Rafi.”</p><p>“Of course,” Rafi waved away his gratitude before asking, “Is there anything else you need for the night?”</p><p>“Nope.”</p><p>Rafi had barely left his room before Mal came in. “I have an idea that you’re going to hate,” she announced, sweeping into the room with a huge book in her arms.</p><p>“Okay…” he drawled as his eyebrows knit together in confusion.</p><p>“In a couple days, you’re going to be hit by tutors and assessments and all the book knowledge that’s expected of royals, and it’s going to be in some sort of structured classroom setting that you’re going to hate. So, here’s some advice that’s going to feel… counterintuitive when you’re sick of it all.” Mal put the book in his lap. <em>Agrabahn Royal Lineage. </em>“Study for yourself, on your own time. Read before you go to sleep; find a corner of this place where you can concentrate in peace, and study there. Study ahead. Look deeper into things that actually interest you. You understand how you learn best, and you’re enough like me that I don’t think it’s in the classroom they’ll put you in. So, find a way to learn that leans into how you learn best.”</p><p>Jay looked disbelievingly at her. “By willingly studying? After I’m done studying?”</p><p>Mal shrugged, saying with a sympathetic frown, “I told you you’d hate it.”</p><p>Jay sighed deeply, muttering, “You’re right about that, at least.”</p><p>But when she left, and left him with the book, he got ready for bed, stretched out underneath the blankets, and memorized names until his head swam with them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, Jay’s things were waiting for him when he woke up, boxed and delivered from Auradon Prep. After breakfast with Mal and his family, he, Mal, Rafi, and Jordan spent the rest of the morning moving him properly into the palace. When Rafi and Jordan left for the afternoon, Mal and Jay spent the rest of the day on his bedroom floor as Mal quizzed him on his family history.</p><p>It wasn’t the relaxing day Jasmine and Aladdin had urged him to take, but he told himself that was okay. Mal was leaving the next morning, and Jay knew she wanted to help him as much as she could before she left. <em>It wasn’t as if the studying was all his life was going to become, after all.</em></p><hr/><p>But after five more days of constant study, Jay was beginning to wonder. He hated sitting in the room where Aziz had gone through grade school with private tutors and working with tutors himself, just as Mal had predicted. His head was constantly spinning, he’d had a headache for three days straight, and he was <em>terrified </em>he still might not be doing well enough on the assessments.</p><p>Despite his and his family’s best efforts, he was becoming overwhelmed by the schooling, and Jasmine and Aladdin knew it as well as Jay did.</p><p>“Come for a walk with me?” Jasmine requested of him after dinner on that fifth night.</p><p>“Sure,” Jay agreed, standing to his feet.</p><p>As they walked out of the dining room, Jasmine rested a hand on his forearm as she asked, “Have you noticed the Agrabahn sunset yet?” Jay shook his head, and she tugged him toward a different hallway, declaring, “Let’s do that, then.”</p><p>She took him outside, and they ambled comfortably along the western perimeter wall until he asked, “What’s on your mind?”</p><p>“Nothing,” she replied, simple and honest.</p><p>“Then… why the walk?”</p><p>“Where would you be,” she asked frankly. “If I hadn’t asked you to walk with me?”</p><p>“In my room.”</p><p>“Doing what?”</p><p>“Studying.”</p><p>“<em>That’s </em>why I asked you to walk with me.”</p><p>“Because I’m studying?”</p><p>“Because you’re <em>stressing</em>,” she corrected, giving him a rebuking glance as she said, “Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean.”</p><p>Jay huffed quietly, but fell silent for a beat until he checked again, “And you’re sure there was nothing you wanted to talk about?”</p><p>“Should there be?”</p><p>“I just…” he shrugged. “You’re an important person, and I feel like I’m… kind of wasting your time if there’s not a point to… taking up your time.”</p><p>She stopped in her tracks, turning to give him an unquestionably firm look as she replied, “Being around my family is never going to be a waste of time. <em>You </em>are not a waste of my time, do you understand?”</p><p>The ferocity in her tone caught Jay off guard, but he nodded, replying quietly, “Yes, ma’am.”</p><p>She sighed, making herself relax as she leaned into him while they began to walk again. “I’m sorry, that was far sharper than I meant for it to be.”</p><p>Jay released a breathy laugh as he said, “It’s okay; you don’t scare me.”</p><p>“Maybe I should,” she pointed out lightly as they worked their way back towards a lighter conversation.</p><p>“Maybe,” he admitted with a smile.</p><p>“I guess,” she revealed slowly as a change of topic. “There is one thing I’ve been wondering.”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“Your name. What’s your full name, so that you know of?”</p><p><em>Because that wasn’t a strange way to phrase the question… </em>“Jay is the only name that I know I have for sure. I know that when Auradon was formed, they implemented last names, but that tradition didn’t carry over to the Isle, really, so a lot of kids use their parents first names as their last names in situations where they need last names at all. That technically makes me Jay Jafar, but I…” he winced. “Avoid using my dad’s name like that. Mrs. Radcliffe mentioned the day I met you that I might have… other options for last names now. Is that true?”</p><p>“It is,” Jasmine agreed. “You could use my maiden name as your last name, if you wanted, or you could use my married name, the surname that Aladdin took, ‘Ababwa.’”</p><p>“Wouldn’t I have to use your maiden name?” Jay asked. “Doesn’t Ababwa apply to children of Aladdin?”</p><p>“Yes, it does.” Jasmine watched him gently, repeating, “We know what it implies, and you can use Ababwa if you want.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay murmured, not sure what to think of the idea as understanding of it dawned on him.</p><p>Jasmine didn’t comment on his uncertainty, and she didn’t let him get lost in thought either as she continued, “But really, I was talking more about your first name.”</p><p>“My first name?” The comment did the trick as he was drawn out of his own thoughts to ask, “What about it?”</p><p>Jasmine was still watching him carefully as she said, “Jay isn’t actually your full name, not the one I gave you that’s on your birth certificate.”</p><p>“What?” Jay mouthed the word before he was able to ask slowly, “What do you mean? What’s my full name, then?”</p><p>“Well – again, only if you want to use it – the name I gave you is Javan Ali Hassan Ababwa.”</p><p>“<em>Two </em>middle names,” Jay said lightly, while giving himself a second to think about what he <em>really </em>wanted to say. “How royal…”</p><p>“Ali in honor of Aladdin, and Hassan for my father,” Jasmine explained.</p><p>“Javan,” Jay said, exploring the way the name felt. “I’m Prince Javan, Javan Ababwa of Agrabah.”</p><p>“You are,” Jasmine said with a nod and a soft smile. “But you are also Jay, of the Isle of the Lost… and we don’t want you to forget that. I think right now you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to be ‘Prince Javan,’ not ‘Jay,’ and that’s part of what’s stressing you out alongside all of the studying.”</p><p>She was trying to say something that he wasn’t sure how to define and sort out, but even if he couldn’t put it into words, she was definitely right somewhere in what she’d said. He sighed after a second, saying, “You’re very people smart. Has anyone ever told you that?”</p><p>Jasmine smiled at him, turning the statement around on him as she said, “<em>You’re </em>‘very people smart,’ you know. You have a good instinct for how to deal with people, and that will serve you well in this family, in this, mmm, line of work.”</p><p>He looked at her suspiciously in the fading light, sensing there was more to what she was saying, “’But’ what?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“<em>But </em>you’re very hard on yourself, aren’t you?”</p><p>The idea caught Jay off-guard when she phrased it so bluntly. “No, I don’t think so.”</p><p>“But you never want to let people down.”</p><p>“Well, no, of course I don’t want to let people down.”</p><p>“…When people trust you, or believe in you, or rely on you…” Even in the growing darkness, it was obvious that she was studying him as she hazarded, “Because not a lot of people do that – trust you, rely on you… believe in you.”</p><p>Jay shrugged, trying to downplay her accuracy. “Not in Auradon, no. So what?”</p><p>“<em>So</em>,” the look she gave him was piercing and kind all at once as she continued, “Now there’s a whole <em>state </em>relying on you, in a way, and that’s a big deal, so you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to live up to all that that means.”</p><p>Again, Jay shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>“Because now you’re a <em>prince</em>, and that sounds like a lot, and it can be. I won’t take away from that.”</p><p>Jay blinked at her. “Something like that, yeah.” He was becoming more and more confused, so he asked, “What about it?”</p><p>Jasmine shrugged herself, then, a mimicking gesture that didn’t suit her as she replied, “You don’t <em>always </em>have to be a prince, you know.”</p><p>That was when she lost him completely. “What?”</p><p>“I am a queen, right? The sultana,” she explained. Jay nodded, and she continued, “But I am also a wife. I am a friend. Right now, I’m… struggling as a daughter. I’m even a dove keeper. I’m a mother. And because I am all those things, sometimes I have to stop being some things to focus on others. Sometimes I need to be the sultana; sometimes I need to focus on being a good friend to someone instead. Absolutely, I could be doing paperwork as sultana right now, but you need a mother’s advice, so here I am.” She patted his arm, saying, “Quite happily, might I add. And here’s my advice.” They stopped walking again as she turned to meet his gaze. “You don’t always have to be a prince. Learn how to have that side of yourself, learn how to love that side of yourself, but learn how to <em>balance </em>that side of yourself with everything else that you are. You’re a friend, and a student, too. A brother, a son, a tourney player, all of it. Focus too much on one thing, and the others will suffer. So, learn how to love that you are, but learn how to balance all that you are, otherwise what you’re focusing too much on might start to stifle you, or at the very least stress you out like you are now.”</p><p>Jay searched her face, not sure how to ask what he wanted to, until he decided to just blurt it out and hope that she was okay with his honesty. “What if… I don’t enjoy one of the things that I have to be? How do I manage that? I know I can just make myself do it… but…”</p><p>“It’s hard,” his mom agreed sympathetically. “I understand. For me, when my royal duties get to be too much – as I assume ‘Prince Javan’ is the part of you that you’re talking about – occasionally I need to take a breath, to take a moment to put everything back in perspective. For me, that’s always been finding a way to remember what I love about the place and people I rule over, no matter how complicated being a good ruler can be.”</p><p>“How do you do that?” Jay asked quietly.</p><p>“I’m not sure you can yet, when you’re still learning how to love Lone Keep in the first place,” she admitted before smiling broadly and pointing at the tree they’d stopped underneath. “For me, it was up there, once upon a time.”</p><p>“Up a tree?” he repeated skeptically.</p><p>“Yes.” She nodded happily. “I bet if you climb it, you’ll figure out why, and I bet it’ll help you destress too.”</p><p>Jay shrugged and gamely made his way up the tree, until he was higher than his mom’s head, then higher than the wall. It clicked then, sudden and tantalizing, what Jasmine wanted him to understand.</p><p>He could jump from a limb and land easily on the other side of the wall, on the opposite side from the palace grounds where he’d been sequestered all week.</p><p>He turned to look back down at Jasmine. To his surprise, she was standing at the base of the tree, holding a knife out to him. “Go. Go explore, relax, and be Jay before Lone Keep even learns Javan exists. But <em>do not </em>use the knife unless you’re in real danger, and be back before sunrise,” she smiled fondly. “My little street rat.”</p><p>Jay smiled just as fondly back at her as he took the knife and slipped it into his belt. “Yes, ma’am.”</p><p>He climbed downward two more branches on the opposite side of the wall, then jumped to the ground on silent feet. Popping the collar of his vest up to cover the lower half of his face, he took his hair down from it’s bun to help disguise his face as well, and then he ran, not even sure where he was going. Just going.</p><p>He ran until his lungs began to burn – something that didn’t happen quickly for him – and when he stopped to look around, he realized he’d headed in the direction of the bazaar, drawn like a moth towards the multicolored lights. Now he was on the edge of the road lined with sales booths, breathing hard and smiling broadly. Here it felt <em>almost </em>like the Isle; here at least he could blend into the crowd anonymously.</p><p>Keeping his head down, proverbially and literally, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to wander the street, glancing over the wares in the stalls and listening to the flow of multiple languages around him. He knew the English, and bits of the Arabic thanks to the Agrabahn guards that had been banished to the Isle, but didn’t pay much attention to what was being said as he people-watched and soaked in the atmosphere of contained chaos. There were fabric stalls, fruit stalls, butchers, jewelry stalls, a girl stealing a necklace from the jeweler, cobblers—</p><p>
  <em>Stealing. Thief.</em>
</p><p>He knew from personal experience that being a thieving in Auradon just wasn’t worth it, and he moved towards the teenager almost without a thought. Moving to stand directly behind her, he took her wrist, whispering so only she could hear, “What are you doing? It’s not worth it.”</p><p>The girl jerked, whirling to face him as surprise, then anger, flared in her dark eyes. “I’m just looking at a necklace! And it’s only three silver pieces. If I had that, I’d be glad to pay for it.”</p><p>“And if you don’t have the money, are you trying to <em>take </em>it, like you’re planning on walking off with my bracelet?” the beady-eyed shopkeeper asked, reaching to grasp the girl’s braceleted wrist.</p><p>“It’s <em>my </em>bracelet!” the girl said sharply, wrenching away from the shopkeeper. “What’s the matter with you people?!”</p><p>Shock coursed through Jay as he suddenly recognized her voice despite the niqab she wore, and he asked, “<em>Audrey</em>?”</p><p>Her eyes were the only thing he could see of her face, and they blew wide with terror as she glanced at him, recognition of her own dawning in her gaze before she ran away.</p><p>With the necklace forgotten, but still in her hand.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Stop, thief!” the shopkeeper cried, ducking out of her stall, and giving chase.</p><p>Concerned and confused on a couple different levels, Jay burst into a sprint of his own as he followed the two women, and quickly overcame the shopkeeper. A couple more paces, and he caught up with Princess Audrey, who was doing an admittedly impressive job of evading him and the jeweler.</p><p>When he managed to catch up with her, he grabbed the forgotten necklace and threw it back at the shopkeeper as Audrey yelped, afraid he was trying to grab her arm instead.</p><p>“I cannot get caught here!” she snapped. “Leave me alone!”</p><p>At the same time, the shopkeeper yelled, “My bracelet!”</p><p>“It’s not hers!” Audrey exclaimed in frustration, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still being chased over it.</p><p>Jay was pretty sure that Jasmine hadn’t meant for him to feel <em>this much </em>like he was back on the Isle, but he wasn’t willing to leave his classmate to a stranger’s mercy, either. “Can’t you just throw it to her?”</p><p>“No!” she snapped, an unplaceable thread of desperation in her tone.</p><p>He needed more information, he decided, glancing around for a decent hideaway as he grabbed Audrey’s wrist. <em>There. </em>He tugged Audrey down an alleyway and up a flight of stairs to a stucco rooftop. She stumbled after him, just quickly enough that the jeweler bypassed the alley as Jay had hoped she would. He crouched on the floor of the roof with Audrey hiding herself from view behind him as he peered over the edge of the roof and watched the saleswoman disappear far beneath them.</p><p>Relaxing his stance, he turned to sit with his back against the ledge as he watched Audrey. She, in turn, watched him warily as she readjusted her windblown niqab, and he said, “So, that was interesting…”</p><p>“That was <em>stupid</em>,” Audrey snapped. “It’s my bracelet!”</p><p>“But you did take her necklace,” he pointed out, mostly to stir the proverbial pot.</p><p>“Only on accident!”</p><p>“But you took it!”</p><p>She narrowed her eyes at him. “I feel like <em>you</em> shouldn’t be giving <em>me </em>a hard time about stealing.”</p><p>Jay smirked. “Why bother with a thief that’s as bad at stealing as you are?” he teased.</p><p>Audrey’s eyes flashed with something like uncertainty as she stood. “On that lovely note, I’m going.”</p><p>“Are you sure you want to chance running into that lady again? I wouldn’t go down yet unless you’re willing to throw your bracelet to her and run.”</p><p>“She’s not getting my bracelet,” Audrey repeated stubbornly.</p><p>“Then explain to her that it’s yours, if you run into her again.”</p><p>“Not since you pointed out who I am. I can’t have anyone realize I’m <em>Princess </em>Audrey.”</p><p>“Why not?” Jay asked. He didn’t ask “<em>Since when don’t you want to be noticed?</em>”</p><p>“Because,” she explained with a put-upon tone. “I’m not supposed to be here.”</p><p>“Here… in Agrabah?”</p><p>She nodded. “I’m supposed to be staying in the Fairy Cottage with my three fairy godmothers for the first half of the summer.”</p><p>“You’re a little far from home, then, aren’t you?”</p><p>She shrugged, saying a little guardedly, “That’s the idea.”</p><p>“To get away from home?” Jay probed gently, sensing a larger story under the surface than what she was saying. “Or away from your Fairy Godmothers? Or… away from what?”</p><p>“All of it,” she said with a sharp look. Audrey released an equally sharp breath, sitting back down beside him as she said, “In case no one’s noticed, life’s been a little… difficult for some of us – by which I mean <em>me </em>– since you VKs came.”</p><p>“By which you mean Mal,” Jay substituted. Audrey glared at him again, and he winced, saying, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He was sure now that there was more going on here, and he didn’t want to say something that made her stop talking until he had a better idea of what was going on. “Please, keep going.”</p><p>“Grammy thought that it would be a good idea for me to get out of the public eye until the… infatuation with Mal, and the talk of my…” she shook her head, picking at a loose thread on her niqab. “My… well, of my ‘<em>shame</em>,’ according to Grammy, blew over. So, she and my parents sent me and my fairy godmothers to the Fairy Cottage for a couple months. I lasted a whole two weeks with the three of them before I just… needed some time away from them.”</p><p>“So, you came all the way to Agrabah?”</p><p>Audrey gave him a dry smile. “No one will think to look for me this far away from home.”</p><p>“Or this far out of your comfort zone?” Jay suggested, thinking of the loud, dusty streets beneath them.</p><p>Audrey gave him an assessing look as she asked, “Why would you say that? You don’t know me, and you don’t know what I’m comfortable with. You just <em>assume </em>I’m, what? A pretty pink Auradonian princess?”</p><p>“Well,” Jay shrugged. “Yeah.” He returned her considering look for one of his own as he asked, “Are you not?”</p><p>“I am,” she allowed. “But I… <em>was </em>also the future queen. I’m better educated, and better travelled than most people give me credit for, thank you very much. I happen to like Agrabah, in its own way, and, like I said, no one’s going to think to look for me in the North. I’m very much a South-of-the-Great-Wall sort of girl, and I know it.”</p><p>“Fair enough.” Jay was still searching her face again, trying to figure out the pieces of the story that were clearly missing as he recapped, “So, you ran away from your fairy godmothers, to Agrabah, because they were too much to deal with for a long period of time?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>He had never met the three fairies, so he couldn’t judge. “And what’s to stop your fairy godmothers from… you know, <em>telling your parents </em>you’ve ran away?”</p><p>“It’s not my parents that’ll stop them,” Audrey answered guardedly. “But they don’t want to cross Grammy – or to make her cross for any reason. And finding out I’ve run away would make her <em>very </em>cross.”</p><p>“So why run away? Why not just go back to Auroria? I thought you loved your grandma?”</p><p>“I do,” Audrey said, but the more questions he asked, the more guarded she got, until she wasn’t really even looking at him as she answered, “She practically raised me. But… she has dementia, and it’s getting… it’s changing her. She’s… <em>severely </em>displeased with me right now.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>Suddenly she was looking at him like he was stupid as she blurted, “Because I lost Ben; I lost the whole plan for my life, for my family’s status in the United States of Auradon.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay breathed, feeling appropriately dumb as he looked out over the darkened Agrabahn sky. “So, you went away to get some time apart from your family, alongside the… publicity issues.”</p><p>“In my mind, yeah,” she admitted.</p><p>“Where are you staying while you’re in Agrabah?” he asked, thinking of the knife in his belt, the fact that Jasmine had still felt the need to give it to him, and maybe that meant he should walk Princess Audrey back to wherever she was staying since it was dark out.</p><p>She shrugged, looking more uncomfortable than ever. “I… that’s why I need to keep my bracelet. I went to the bazaar to sell it so I could…”</p><p>“Could what?” Jay asked, understanding dawning of something that was too familiar – and too out of place for Auradon – <em>and it was too far out of place for Auradon, right? </em>“Afford a place to stay tonight?”</p><p>She nodded stiffly, definitely not looking at him now.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So. I got to thinking about D3, and how even though this series isn't compliant with D3, I would like to see hints of it still in this series. Obviously, Dizzy, Uma, and Harry are eventually coming to Auradon, and although the circumstances are different for the most part, they're still coming. The other major plotline that needed to be handled, then, was obviously Audrey. <br/>So, this is the story that also "handles" Audrey - with a small dose of headcanons that I think could fit into canon to help with that. Namely, Queen Leah's dementia (which is a headcanon I have from D1), and reading more into the snide remarks that Queen Leah made to Audrey at the beginning of D3. Honestly, I think that a lot of things could've been avoided in D3 if Audrey had been given real friends to talk to, and possibly someone to stand between her and her grandmother as needed. So... that's this, and "this" is part of my attempt to at least tip my hat to D3. I hope you guys enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Then you can stay at the palace,” he said without even thinking about it. <em>That’s what royals did, right? Stayed with one another when they were in each other’s kingdoms?</em></p><p>“I can’t do that!” she said, horror slashing through her eyes. “Word will get back to my parents that I was there. And what right do <em>you</em> have to invite me to the palace, anyway?”</p><p><em>Oh, yeah. Most people didn’t know he was living there yet, and they weren’t really supposed to know about it yet. But maybe… </em>“I tell you what: you come stay at the palace until you’re ready to go back to Auroria. I’ll keep your location a secret if you keep my secret, too.”</p><p>“What secret?” she asked predictably.</p><p>“That I’m living there, too,” he said with a crooked smile.</p><p>“The <em>sultan and sultana </em>took you in?” Audrey asked in obvious shock.</p><p>Jay’s tense smile stayed in place as he nodded. “They did. And I’m sure they’ll let you stay with them, too, if you need to. Especially if your other option is to be homeless out here.”</p><p>“But if word gets back to Grammy that I left the Fairy Cottage—”</p><p>“Audrey,” Jay blurted firmly before he could think better of it. “If you’re in some sort of trouble, especially while in Agrabah, we want to help. I promise. Please, let us help. At least for tonight, until we can get something else sorted out for you.”</p><p>He watched Audrey’s stubbornness waver. <em>She didn’t want to be out here anymore than he wanted to leave her alone out here… so how much trouble was she in, that she was more willing to stay on the street than with her own family? </em>He still didn’t have nearly enough pieces of the puzzle, and he wasn’t willing to lose track of her until he did.</p><p>“Just for tonight?” she checked, and Jay nodded even though he was pretty sure he didn’t have the authority to make the promises that he was making in any case. “And you swear they won’t tell anyone?”</p><p>Jay nodded again, crossing the fingers of the hand that was in his pocket. <em>He would do his best to keep the promises he was making, </em>he reasoned, <em>and anything was better than her sleeping on the street, wasn’t it?</em></p><p>“Okay, then,” she agreed, taking another breath. “I’ll come to the palace with you, but only for tonight.”</p><p>“Works for me,” Jay declared, jumping onto his feet. He gave her a hand to hers, and they descended the staircase to the street as Audrey double-checked that her niqab was covering as much of her face as it possibly could while still allowing her to see. “Why don’t we go this way?” he suggested, tugging her towards a back-alley. “If you’re that worried about being noticed, it would help to stay out of more populated areas.” She nodded her agreement but edged closer to him as they walked into the shadows. “It’s okay,” he assured her in a whisper. “I’ll keep you safe, princess.”</p><p>“I don’t need your protection,” she muttered.</p><p>“Would you prefer my knife instead?” he asked curiously, but mostly kidding.</p><p>“Yes, please.”</p><p>He scoffed. “You want me to trust you with a knife?”</p><p>“You want me to trust you with my own safety?” she volleyed back.</p><p>“I thought you didn’t need my protection?”</p><p>“I thought you were trying to give it anyway.”</p><p>“Nah,” Jay took a wide step ahead of Audrey, feeling just ornery enough – just mean enough in the face of her aloof attitude – to see what she would do if he started to leave her. “Not really.”</p><p>Without warning, he burst into a run – and to his continued surprise, she almost kept pace with him. He grinned, veering to the left and down another alley. This one was walled off at the end, and he scaled the crumbling brick, fully expecting to have to double back for Princess Audrey. But she climbed the wall side by side with him.</p><p>“Alright,” he said with a smile, duly impressed as she dropped down from the wall in a flurry of pink cotton. “I’m impressed.”</p><p>“You act like VKs are the only ones who ever sneak out, run away from home, or exercise,” she replied with a confident smile of her own. “I’m a cheerleader. It is a sport, you know.”</p><p>Jay hummed but didn’t have the heart to disagree with her like he wanted to when she was smiling for the first time that night. “Come on then,” he said, taking her wrist again and sprinting forward with her at his side. “Jasmine said I have to be home by sunrise.”</p><p>“You have hours until then!”</p><p>“Do you want to keep wandering back alleys in the dark? I’m fine with it, but I was trying to be nice to you.”</p><p>“I would definitely like to go sleep in a decent bed, thanks.”</p><p>“That’s what I thought.” He grinned over at her, releasing her arm as he challenged, “I’ll race you to the palace.”</p><hr/><p>Jay beat Audrey <em>almost </em>easily back to the palace, but that didn’t make him any less impressed when she did an actual backflip to land inside the palace walls from the overhanging tree. On a hunch, he asked in a whisper, “Is that from cheerleading?”</p><p>She gave him a sassy smile. “Of course.” Her nose wrinkled in a way that he’d found adorable from the first time they’d met as she confessed, “I couldn’t resist.”</p><p>“You know, I didn’t actually give you grief over the whole ‘cheerleading is a sport’ thing;” he teased. “I don’t feel like I deserve that level of showing off.”</p><p>“You didn’t <em>verbalize </em>it, but I saw the look on your face. You might as well admit that you were impressed just now anyway,” she replied, still bantering with him.</p><p>“I was,” he allowed with a mimicry of a bow to her skill. “Now, let’s g—”</p><p>Hearing the soft thud of booted feet on the carefully nurtured grass, Jay put a hand over Audrey’s mouth as he dragged them both into the space between the wall and the tree until a palace guard had passed.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What was <em>that</em> about?” she hissed once Jay released her. “I thought you said you live here now!”</p><p>“I do, but I don’t think I’m supposed to have done what Jasmine gave me permission to do tonight, and I didn’t want to have to explain anything to a guard,” he answered, starting up the back stairs with his guest.</p><p>“Okay… are you here as a part of the <em>royal</em> family, or did a servant’s family take you in?”</p><p>“Jasmine and Aladdin took me in themselves.”</p><p>“Then you wouldn’t have to <em>explain</em> anything to anyone. Just tell him you have the permission of his sultana and go about your day.” Jay shrugged, not sure why the idea made him so uncomfortable – until Audrey pointed out, “But you’re not used to having <em>support </em>from authority figures, are you?”</p><p>“Not really,” he muttered as they stepped into the palace itself. That was when he realized, and said a little regretfully, “Since no one knew you were coming, we don’t really have the royal welcome you’re probably used to.”</p><p>Audrey sighed. “I’d say we have bigger problems than that. I don’t even have clothes with me, or a toothbrush, or… anything.”</p><p>Jay had noticed that, but he hadn’t been sure how to bring it up. Now that she had, though, he said, “I think we can take care of that pretty easily, if you’re okay with sharing some stuff.”</p><p>“Sharing a toothbrush? No thanks.”</p><p>He rolled his eyes at her dry humor and waved for her to follow him through the halls until he reached the wing where his family lived. Pressing a finger to his lips so that she knew to keep quiet, he ushered her into his bedroom and began to dig through his dresser.</p><p>“I don’t know where we keep spare clothes for guests, if we even have any, but for tonight…” he pulled out a baggy t-shirt and pair of tourney shorts, offering, “Is this okay for pajamas?” Audrey was fighting not to wrinkle her nose in a different way, now, and Jay added, very gently, “Just for something clean to sleep in?”</p><p>Sharply, she replied, “I’m not dirty.”</p><p>“No,” he agreed, all too aware that he still didn’t have the full story of why she was in Agrabah as he continued, “But I know what it looks like when someone’s worn the same clothes for a while. You said yourself you don’t have anything extra with you, and I’d guess you’ve been on the streets for a couple of days at least, right?”</p><p>Audrey blew out a frustrated breath as she took the clothes from him, correcting, “Four days.”</p><p>“You left Fairy Cottage four days ago?”</p><p>She nodded. “I hired a private flight to get here, where I knew no one would come looking for me… which was both smart and stupid, because the pilot stole my bag, and two days after that, I <em>still </em>ran out of money because I hired the flight at all. So, you found me looking at a jeweler’s stall to try and price my bracelet so that I could sell it.”</p><p>Jay filed that information away for later consideration as he asked, “If you really ran out of money, when was the last time you ate?” She shrugged, backing towards the door as he pressed, “Audrey?”</p><p>“I don’t know. Yesterday morning, probably.”</p><p>Jay nodded. “Okay. Come here,” he waved her back out into the hall and led her into the bedroom suite that Mal had used during her visit. “You can sleep here tonight. There are new toothbrushes underneath the sink, and little travel-size soaps and stuff on the edge of the tub. You get cleaned up; I’m going to be back, with food. Okay?”</p><p>He didn’t give her time to answer – and possibly object – before he slipped out of the room, and promptly realized he’d just made more promises that he didn’t know how to deliver on. He had no idea where the kitchen was here, or where he could find any food. So far, it had just kind of… appeared at the appropriate times, even though he knew very well that someone made it and brought it up.</p><p>
  <em>Up, because the kitchen was downstairs. And the main dining room was near the front door, so he just needed to find a staircase that went downward near the front of the palace. Easy enough. He’d certainly figured out the layout of more cobbled-together buildings with a less sensible building plan and less information.</em>
</p><p>Jay made his way into the main dining room and headed for the side-door.</p><p><em>Oh, yeah. </em>He smiled as he looked down the dark staircase to the basement level. <em>He still had a knack for sneaking around.</em></p><p>He tiptoed down the stone staircase, then froze as he realized that a candle was burning just around the corner, out of sight from the stairwell. Taking a couple more silent steps, Jay peered around the corner.</p><p>Delia was sitting at the counter, working on some mending with a glass of lemonade.</p><p><em>Okay, in that case, he just needed a “midnight snack,” </em>he decided, making sure the few steps he took into the kitchen were purposefully loud, so he didn’t startle her.</p><p>As he’d expected, her head snapped up as she turned towards him. “Oh, Prince Javan!”</p><p>The name and title caught him off-guard, so much so that he froze in the doorway, suddenly just as startled as Delia was. <em>How could she have known already? Because she was his mother’s best friend; </em>he answered the question for himself as soon as it even crossed his mind.<em> If anyone would know, next to Aladdin, she would.</em></p><p>She didn’t appear to think anything of his being here as she said, “I didn’t hear you there. I hope I didn’t startle you. Can I help you with something?”</p><p><em>Audrey</em>, he reminded himself as he smiled with a smoothness that he didn’t feel. <em>He had someone to look out for right now. </em>“I was just looking for a midnight snack,” he informed her.</p><p>Delia nodded, but her eyes flashed with an assessment that he didn’t like before they flooded with compassion and she said sweetly, “You know you don’t have to sneak around to find food here, right? There’s plenty to go around, and all you have to do is ask.”</p><p>“I know,” Jay replied kindly. “I do. I just didn’t want to wake anyone.”</p><p>“Good.” Delia grinned with relief. “That’s alright. Did you want me to make you something, since I’m still up?”</p><p>Jay shook his head, moving past her and around the counter to dig into the contents of a refrigerator. “I think I can handle a sandwich, but thanks. Really.”</p><p>“Of course,” she replied with a smile, watching him dump a pile of packaged bread, cheese, meat, and mayo onto the counter.</p><p>He threw together a sandwich as quickly as he could, grabbed a bag of baby carrots – <em>princesses ate those, right, instead of “fatty” things like chips? </em>– and left the kitchen the same way he’d come in, calling, “Good night.”</p><p>“Good night, your highness,” Delia replied, leaving Jay pondering how much <em>that </em>was going to take getting used to as he made his way back up to the bedroom he’d left Audrey in.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He put the sandwich and carrots on the bedside table. Realizing that Audrey was probably going to take a minute in the shower, Jay went to his room, grabbed a textbook, went back to the guest room, and settled into a wingback chair with it.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, Audrey emerged from the steaming bathroom in his baggy clothes, and he nodded towards the food that was waiting for her.</p><p>“Thank you,” she said, sitting cross-legged on the bed with the plate. “But you didn’t have to wait up for me.”</p><p>Jay shrugged dismissively, not about to admit that he was still here so he could see how much she seemed to want or need the food he’d given her. It was something he’d done every time he’d taken a younger – or even older – VK to one of the bolt holes on the Isle for a night where they could relax without worrying about their parents, or food, or whatever else had driven them onto the streets instead of into their own home.</p><p>Audrey was hungry, really hungry, judging by the way that she tore into the sandwich for a few seconds before she remembered that she had an audience and set it down on the plate with an embarrassed tint rising in her cheeks. Jay pretended not to notice as she swallowed roughly and asked lightly, “What are you reading?”</p><p>Jay tapped the page with a lackluster sigh. “<em>Agrabahn Royal Lineage</em>.”</p><p>“Really?” Audrey arched an eyebrow. “Why? That doesn’t seem like your sort of… pleasure reading.”</p><p>“It’s not,” he agreed with a scoff. “I’m not really a reader at all, and definitely not of this sort of thing.”</p><p>“Then why read it?” she asked again, tearing another bite off the sandwich and popping it into her mouth. “It looks like you’re almost done with it.”</p><p>“I am, thank the gods,” Jay replied. “I’m reading it for the ‘academic assessments’ I’m doing. They’re trying to see if they can put me further along in school than I am right now.”</p><p>“Why would they want to do that?”</p><p>Jay sucked in a slow breath, wondering why she even cared before deciding that she was probably just making conversation… and that he could do the same thing. “Because it turns out I’m older than I was told I am, and I guess they’re trying to help me catch up to where I should be in life.”</p><p>Surprise flared on her face. “Really? How old are you?”</p><p>“Twenty,” he said, and instantly wondered why he’d told her when he hadn’t been willing to tell Rafi earlier in the week. She looked at him for a beat too long, then away from him, all while thinking through something as she wiped the crumbs from her plate with a fingertip. “What?” he asked curiously. “What are you thinking?”</p><p>“I’m eighteen,” she said quietly. “Grammy wanted me held back in first grade. Not a lot of people know.” She shrugged, but still didn’t look at him. “It’s nothing, really, but… I guess since you asked.”</p><p>“But,” he cocked his head at her, confused as he thought aloud, “You said you were given a… an advanced education… but you were still held back?”</p><p>She smiled at him now, bitterness at the edges of her expression as she explained further, “Oh, I was given a very advanced education, and I was smart enough to handle it well, too. Grammy wanted me held back so that I could go through school in the same classes as Ben.”</p><p>Jay blinked stupidly at her. “What?”</p><p>Audrey shrugged, saying defensively, “It was for my own good. For the good of our relationship, and, ultimately, Auroria.”</p><p>“They really fashioned your whole life around the idea of your relationship with one guy, didn’t they?” Jay muttered the horrifying realization. <em>His mother, Lonnie, Mulan… they would </em>never <em>allow something like that.</em></p><p>“Arranged marriages are a fact of life in Auroria, just like they were an acceptable part of Agrabahn culture during the time of Sultana Jasmine’s father, and long before that. Grammy helped arrange my parents’ marriage when my mom was a baby, and she worked out an alliance with King Adam and Queen Belle when Ben was born. As time went on, she did everything she could to give our relationship the best chance possible. Because she wants the best possible life for me, because she loves me.” Audrey smiled encouragingly as she asked, “Does <em>that </em>help it make sense?”</p><p><em>Yeah, it was all starting to make sense, alright… </em>There were a lot of questions running through his mind, and he carefully chose the one that he actually voiced. “Since you and Ben broke up, are you going to skip ahead in school?”</p><p>Audrey shook her head. “Grammy wants me to stay close to Ben…” she wavered before finishing, “Just in case I can get him back, she says.”</p><p>“And if you can’t win him back?” Jay asked softly.</p><p>Audrey drew in a deep breath, setting the plate on the nightstand as she reached for the bag of the carrots instead while answering dryly, “Then I will be spending a lot more time in Agrabah.”</p><p>“Why?” Jay asked, trying not to let his growing concern show on his face.</p><p>Her breath came out in a humorless chuckle as she raised a carrot to him and answered, “Because here at least I get to eat.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?”</p><p>She paused for a split second, and the change in her expression was so slight that he <em>almost </em>believed her bright smile as she laughed, “It doesn’t <em>mean </em>anything, silly. I was joking. Duh.”</p><p>“Of course,” Jay replied with his own smile and dismissive shrug.</p><p>“My turn to ask a question:” she decided firmly, before charging ahead and asking, “How did you score a home with a royal family?”</p><p>“Why would you ask it like that?” he asked, purposefully making light of the question. “Mal did too.”</p><p>“Because she’s dating a prince. Are <em>you </em>dating a prince?”</p><p>Now Jay actually snorted. “Who? Aziz? Definitely not.”</p><p>“Good. Auradon doesn’t look very fondly on princes who date princes, so to speak.” She folded one leg over the other, staring him down and still managing to look regal in his tourney clothes as she asked pointedly, “So, how <em>are </em>you related to Jasmine?”</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Who says I’m not related to Aladdin?” he asked with his signature grin. “Maybe I’m some friendly neighborhood street rat who reminded him of himself when he was my age?”</p><p>She was looking <em>straight through </em>the lie, and he had no idea how, and he had no idea what to do about it. “Oh, I don’t doubt that that’s true,” she agreed. “But—” she reached for his book. “What edition is this?”</p><p>“I dunno. Why?”</p><p>“Because this book is updated every time a member of the Agrabahn royal line is born. It’s the 2004 edition. Good.”</p><p>“Why does it matter?” Jay asked as she moved to crouch beside his chair while flipping to the very back of the book.</p><p>She pointed to a timeline – no, a huge illustrated family tree – that he hadn’t noticed spread across the final two pages.  “Because some textbooks like this that are just boring statements of the facts actually have <em>all </em>the facts in them. Like this.” She pointed to two names at the very bottom of the family tree. “<em>Aziz Ali Cassim Ababwa,</em>” and right in front of Aziz’s name: “<em>Javan Ali Hassan Ababwa” </em>with a reference number by it.</p><p>Amidst growing horror, Jay read the notation that corresponded with the number: “<em>stillborn</em>.”</p><p>“Most history books that include mention of Prince Javan,” Audrey continued, watching him carefully. “Will call him the pre-wedlock accident of Jasmine and Aladdin.” Very, very carefully, with more gentility than he ever would’ve attributed to her, she asked, “But that’s not what happened to your mom, is it?”</p><p>Unsure what else to do, Jay surged to his feet, almost toppling her over in the process as he said, “This is none of your business.”</p><p>“Which is not the same as saying ‘no,’” she pointed out, standing to her feet, and blocking his exit with a new and growing desperation in her tone.</p><p>“Audrey, move, or I will move you,” Jay threatened levelly.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to insult you,” she said quickly. “I was just trying to understand.”</p><p>“Why do you even care?” he snapped, not doing a very good job of keeping his temper in check.</p><p>“Why did you care enough to bring me here?”</p><p>“Because you…” he waved uselessly around the room, admitting, “Because something wasn’t right – something <em>isn’t </em>right – and you needed help, and, and <em>food</em>, and it’s not that hard to give those things to people here, so I just did it.”</p><p>“Because you saw I needed help.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>She regarded him so calmly that it began to help him calm too as she asked, “And do you think <em>you </em>need help?”</p><p>“With what?”</p><p>She tapped the book with a fingertip that had lost its manicured nail, a slyness in her voice that he understood all too well. “Becoming Prince Javan, of course.”</p><p><em>She was going to make a deal with him – that, or try to blackmail him with what she’d figured out about his mom</em> – so he hurried the conversation along by asking, “Why would you help me?”</p><p>“Because you know I need help, too, and we can benefit each other.”</p><p><em>A deal, then</em>. “How could we do that?” he asked evenly, looking down into brown eyes that were still wide even as she tried and halfway failed to keep her gaze hardened and sharp.</p><p>“I’ll be your private tutor in all things royal and political if you convince the sultan and sultana to let me stay here,” she bartered.</p><p>“For how long?”</p><p>She shrugged, helplessness slashing across her features as she said, “Until I can find a prince that I can date.”</p><p>Jay took a step back, surprised. “You’re going to have to connect some dots here for me because you just lost me. Weren’t you with Chad? And <em>you </em>broke up with <em>him</em>?”</p><p>“It was like kissing my brother,” Audrey said, her nose wrinkling in disgust again. “I just couldn’t do it. And, besides, Grammy’s gotten worse since I broke up with Chad.”</p><p>“And your grandma’s the one making things difficult for you because you’re not with Ben anymore?” he asked carefully.</p><p>She nodded, looking away again as she admitted, “Really difficult.”</p><p>“Audrey,” he asked, hoping both that he was wrong and that she would give him an actual answer, “How serious were you about ‘here at least I get to eat?’” <em>This wouldn’t be the first time he’d run across an adult withholding necessities, like food, from the kids they were in charge of. </em>She sighed, shrugged, and still didn’t look at him, so he asked more directly, “Does your grandma let you eat when you’re at home?”</p><p>She wouldn’t meet his gaze, but she answered at least as she said, “Most of the time, yeah, of course. Just… not necessarily when she gets upset with me. She’ll lock me in my room sometimes, or sometimes she’ll forbid the servants from giving me food, and when she locks me in my room <em>and </em>forbids the servants from giving me food, that means I can’t come to the dinner table, so I—I don’t eat. Her episodes aren’t usually that bad, or they don’t last that long, but the last one went on for days, so my mom convinced her to—to banish me to Fairy Cottage with my fairy godmothers for a while. My parents thought I’d be better there, and I was, except Grammy told them not to feed me, either. All the better to keep me <em>beautifully thin</em>, and better equipped to catch a prince. I just got so tired of it, so tired of waiting for her to snap out of it, so <em>hungry</em>… I ran away. I went out to eat at the next village over from the Fairy Cottage, but they recognized me there while I was eating, and I panicked. I hired a pilot, I told him I had confidential business to conduct in Agrabah, and that I would pay double his usual fee if he didn’t tell anyone, including my family, where I’d gone. And here I am. After all that, I’m not sure if I <em>can </em>go home again… so I need to be allowed to stay here until I can figure something out.”</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What you <em>need</em>,” Jay corrected, quickly working through stages of shock. “Is someone to keep your grandma in check!”</p><p>“It’s not her,” Audrey said with a fierce shake of her head. “I love my grammy, and Grammy loves me. She really, really does. It’s her dementia. She’s sick, and everything that’s happening is the illness’s fault.”</p><p>“Then why is everyone still taking orders from her?” Jay asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.</p><p>“Because she’s the queen,” Audrey replied in a way that might as well have had another “duh” at the end of her statement.</p><p>“And you’re dad’s the prince.”</p><p>Audrey gave him a sad, thin-lipped smile as she sat down across from him. “Lesson number one in royal politics: she threatens to disown him when he does something she doesn’t like, like stand up for me, and disowning him would effectively strip him of his title, and his ability to oppose her in any way.”</p><p>“What about your mom?”</p><p>“She does the same thing to her,” Audrey admitted quietly. “But you have to understand, that’s not my grammy. That’s not the way her mind – her healthy mind – works. She loves us all very much; she’s just confused a lot, and the confusion makes her scared, and when she’s scared, she tries to keep everything under her control to—to compensate somehow.”</p><p>“So, what you need is a way to take the power from your grandma and, what, pass it down to your parents even though your grandma’s not dead?”</p><p>“Yes. It’s called ‘deposing,’ and it’s exactly what we need, but that requires a couple things that we don’t have.”</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“Time, for one thing. It takes a while to get that sort of thing through the proper channels, especially here in Auradon, especially because of the <em>other </em>thing we need: the approval of the Head of Royals.”</p><p>“Ben.”</p><p>Audrey nodded.</p><p>“So, just tell him what’s going on,” Jay suggested simply.</p><p>“Oh, he knows,” Audrey informed him. “And last I knew, he was starting to work on it with my dad… behind the scenes, in a way, but for now…” she shook her head. “Like I said, I don’t think I can go home.”</p><p>They sat across from one another, each one lost in their own thoughts as a zany idea began to take shape in Jay’s mind. “Did you mean it when you said you thought you’d be able to go home, to have a better relationship with your…” his eyebrows twitched. “Grammy if you were to start dating a prince again?”</p><p>Audrey snorted, and Jay was surprised when she slouched enough to drop her head into her hands as she admitted, “Yeah, as crazy as it sounds, I think so. That’s all she wants for me these days.”</p><p>“Okay,” he crossed his arms over his chest. “Then, to go back to the deal you proposed, why don’t we compromise on it?”</p><p>“How?” Audrey asked cautiously.</p><p>“I’ll convince Jasmine and Aladdin to let you stay here until we return to Auradon in the next couple weeks, and while you’re here, you’ll help me learn the ropes of being royal. When we get to Auradon, where some of the royals are going to be gathered for this press conference – including your family – we’ll tell your grandma that I, <em>Prince </em>Javan, am your boyfriend, and I live so far away from Auroria that nothing will actually have to change in your life until you find the prince you want and ‘break up’ with me to be with him. At least so far as Grammy knows.” He gave her a self-satisfied smile as he asked, “How’s that sound?”</p><p>“A little crazy,” she replied, blinking at him. “But… maybe just crazy enough to work.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>“But we’ll have to sell it more than you think we will.”</p><p>Jay’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“Grammy cares a lot about what things <em>look </em>like. In order for this to work the way you’re suggesting you want it to work for me, we’re going to have to…”</p><p>“Sell it,” Jay repeated as understanding dawned. He shrugged, shoving away the little ball of nerves that curled in his stomach. “I can do that if you can.”</p><p>Her next question caught him entirely off-guard as she asked, “And is this how we’re explaining my presence here to your parents in the morning? Because I’m not <em>about </em>to tell them what I’ve told you tonight.”</p><p>He laughed. “Thanks for the… compliment? I think? I mean…” he drew in a deep breath as he began to answer her question. “If you’re asking me ‘do I want to lie to them?’ No, I don’t. In fact, I don’t even think—” he stopped just short of saying that he didn’t think Aladdin would even buy their act. <em>Maybe he could use Aladdin’s and Jasmine’s shrewdness to his advantage. Play the ruse like Audrey wanted, make her feel safe, and still get “caught” by Jasmine and Aladdin, meaning they’d have to come clean to them like he wanted in the first place.</em></p><p>Audrey’s expression was flickering with poorly concealed fear as she looked at him. “Please,” she said. “Jasmine and Aladdin are renown for being ‘doers,’ and if they figure out what’s going on behind closed doors in Auroria, they’ll feel the need to do something about it, and that ‘something’ will probably wreck whatever plan Ben and my dad are working on, and—”</p><p>“Okay.” Jay spoke over her before she could get too worried, the desperation on her face making up his mind for him. “We’ll do it your way.”</p><p>She blew out a relieved breath. “Thank you.”</p><p>“You’re welcome,” he replied, standing up and getting ready to take his leave for the night. “I’m just down the hall if you need something else, okay?” She nodded, and he made his way to the door. Before he left, he said with a bright smile, “Before tomorrow comes, I should warn you, I’m really good at this kind of game.”</p><p>Audrey gave him a smile filled with a kind of confidence that he wasn’t expecting from her as she replied, “I’m counting on it.”</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, Jay texted Audrey when he woke up. <em>Want to go into breakfast together?</em></p><p><em>Probably a good idea, yeah, </em>she replied.</p><p>So he got up, put on his usual uniform of t-shirt, vest, and jeans, put his hair halfway up, brushed his teeth, and waited until he heard Aziz pass by to go to breakfast himself before he stepped out into the hall and texted Audrey, <em>I’m ready whenever you are.</em></p><p>She immediately flung open the bedroom door, hissing, “I don’t have any other clothes!”</p><p>“We have two options:” Jay decided after a second’s thought. “Either you go to breakfast in those clothes now, and we catch my whole family all in one spot to tell them about our ‘relationship,’ or I can call Rafi, and we can maybe root up something for you – I really don’t know – all while having to put on an act in front of him. It’s up to you.”</p><p>Audrey looked back down at the clothes she wore, her nose wrinkling in disgust at them again as she weighed her options. After a beat, she decided resignedly, “I guess there is a statement being made if I come down in your t-shirt, right?”</p><p>“I didn’t think of it like <em>that</em>!” Jay objected.</p><p>Audrey shrugged, giving him a teasing smile over her shoulder as she walked past him and said lightly, “Too late, I’ve already made up my mind.”</p><p>“They’re gonna think we did way more than we actually did, if you sho—” She was already halfway down the hall, and he spared a thought to wonder how she knew where to go at all. “Is there any way I can talk you out of wearing that to breakfast?”</p><p>“Given that I don’t have anything else to wear except for dirty clothes that I wore for days in a row? No,” she decided. “We can tell the truth about some of that, though, tell them that my bag was stole on my flight, and you loaned me something of yours. Easy enough.”</p><p>Audrey tangled her fingers experimentally with his as she started towards the formal dining room.</p><p>He tugged her gently towards the smaller sitting room they’d ate in his first night here. “We only use the formal areas when we have visitors. Since we weren’t expecting you, you get the casual treatment this time.”</p><p>She blinked as if it were taking her a second to process what he’d said, but she allowed him to lead her in the opposite direction regardless. She stopped just shy of the doorway, though, digging in her heels and flashing him a look that he had no idea how to interpret.</p><p>“I can’t just <em>go in</em>,” she explained in a whisper.</p><p>“Why not?” he asked with an upraised eyebrow.</p><p>“You have to explain <em>something </em>to them before I just… show up!”</p><p><em>Oh. So, she was leaving </em>him <em>to provide the full explanation. That would’ve been nice to know before now. </em>Drawing in a silent breath, Jay stepped into the doorway, saying with nerves that were far less of a put-on than he would’ve liked, “Hey, guys?”</p><p>“Morning, Jay,” Aladdin said.</p><p>“Hey,” Aziz added.</p><p>Jasmine, however, did a doubletake and asked, “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he gave them a careful smile as he said, “I just have another visitor who showed up last night. I hope it’s okay.” He reached behind him and took Audrey’s hand, and she stepped into their view as he said, “I’m sure you all know Audrey Rose… my girlfriend.”</p><p>There was a beat of shocked silence that lasted far too long, Jay’s new family staring at the “couple” in the doorway until Jasmine attempted, “You’re…”</p><p>“—Dating…” Aladdin added, and Jay could tell that he was clearly thinking already, trying to sort something out behind his eyes.</p><p>Aziz was doing nothing as difficult as thinking, his mouth hanging open in a way that Jay desperately wanted to mock him for as he finished the disjointed sentence with, “Audrey.”</p><p>“Yes,” Jay said, careful to add confidence to the statement as he repeated, “I’m dating Audrey.”</p><p>Aladdin folded his hands on the tabletop, asking pleasantly, “And how long have you two been dating?”</p><p>Jay mentally scrambled as he realized how ill-prepared he and Audrey actually were after their middle-of-the-night conversation last night. They’d come up with <em>no </em>backstory whatsoever for this.</p><p><em>It was a good thing he didn’t mind getting busted by Aladdin</em>, he decided, but it was Audrey who answered, “Since the end of the school year, or a little before, actually.”</p><p>“Well, come in,” Jasmine bade them with a forced smile. “Tell us about it.”</p><p>Jasmine did a doubletake as she glanced at Jay’s clothes on Audrey, a frown pinching at the corners of her mouth as Audrey winced appropriately, apologizing, “Sorry about the state of…” She released a nervous laugh as she sat down beside Jay on a pillow as if she’d eaten this way a thousand times. “Me. My suitcase was unfortunately stolen on the ride here, and I had to borrow pajamas from Jay, and I didn’t even have anything else to change into, so…” she shrugged uncomfortably, repeating, “Sorry.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jasmine said, sounding every inch a hostess even as Jay noticed the slight relaxing in her shoulders. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure we could have the outfit you came in washed for the day’s use.” Grinning, she added, “Maybe even squeeze in a shopping trip for another outfit or two.”</p><p>“I’m afraid I didn’t bring the money for that,” Audrey said apologetically, looking like she really would’ve liked to take Jasmine up on her offer. She turned adoringly to Jay, taking his hand again as she added, “I was just in such a hurry to come see him.”</p><p>“You said you’ve been dating since the end of the school year?” Aladdin asked.</p><p>Audrey nodded eagerly. “I think that’s part of why the separation’s been so difficult, for me at least, because we got together, and then I immediately went on vacation with my fairy godmothers.” She beamed at Jay as she said, “So, now that I was able to surprise him by coming, I just want to be with him for as long as I can be.”</p><p><em>A solid impression of new love and a good dig at being invited for a longer visit. </em>She had impressed him again; Jay didn’t mind admitting to himself.</p><p>Aladdin ignored the extremely subtle suggestion to ask kindly – an interrogation disguised as a perfectly normal conversation, and they all knew it – “What got you two kids together, anyway?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Audrey was doing perfectly well carrying the conversation, so Jay decided to let her keep digging, to see how far she could take it, and she didn’t disappoint. “Well,” she grinned shyly. “He noticed me right away when they originally came, if you remember?”</p><p>Aziz swallowed a piece of melon before he put his chin in his hand and quoted Jay’s first day in Auradon as he recalled, “’<em>Hello, foxy</em>.”</p><p>“Aziz!” Jasmine objected sharply.</p><p>Audrey laughed uncomfortably, coming to Aziz’s rescue as she said, “It’s okay. Sort of. It is…”</p><p>“What I actually said,” Jay supplied, a little uncomfortable with the reminder in his own right.</p><p>“But I was with Ben,” Audrey swooped right back in to continue her story. “And then I wasn’t, and…” this time when she looked from Aladdin to Jay, he could’ve sworn she was actually thinking back as she said, “The night of the coronation, at the party the school kids had afterwards, I saw him help his friend get up the courage to go talk to Jane, and to urge Jane onto the dance floor, and I just thought it was super sweet. Then I realized he was going to sit there all alone if no one went up to him, so I did, and we danced.” She turned to Jasmine, something strangely hopeful that didn’t make sense to Jay in her eyes as she continued, “That was the night that I realized I liked him. Maybe I should’ve done something about it, then, but…”</p><p>“No,” Jasmine replied when Audrey trailed off. “It’s good, when you get out of a relationship, especially a long one, to have time to yourself before taking up with someone else. You were smart to handle it the way you did.”</p><p>“Well,” Audrey shrugged demurely, glancing away from them all to the food on the table. “Thank you.”</p><p>“Of course.” Jasmine smiled politely as she waved towards the table. “Please, eat.”</p><p>Apparently, that was code for the fact that the interrogation was over – or at least the verbal one was – as all five of them turned back to their meal. Jasmine and Aladdin began discussing their plans for the day as Jay poured himself a cup of tea, Aziz sliced a pomegranate in half, and Audrey filled her plate.</p><p>Guilt smacked him in the chest as he noticed the hunger still in her eyes even though she was very careful to not overfill her plate. <em>Had she still gone to bed hungry even after the sandwich and carrots last night? If it’s hadn’t been enough, he wished she would’ve said so… Did Aladdin notice the same look in her eyes that Jay did? </em>Once glance at his stepfather confirmed the answer to one of those questions, at least. Aladdin definitely noticed, and there was a flash of complete bafflement across his face before he concealed it.</p><p>“How long will we have you here for, princess?” Aladdin asked pleasantly.</p><p>Audrey hesitated, looking with careful hope between Jasmine and Aladdin as she said, “I was hoping that maybe I could return to Auradon with you all when you’re scheduled to hold that press conference?”</p><p>“Oh,” Jasmine blinked in surprise. “You know about that?”</p><p>Audrey shrugged. “Jane LaFae just happened to mention it once. I hope that’s okay?”</p><p>Jasmine nodded, but her smile was a little thinner than the one Jay had grown accustomed to. “It is.”</p><p>“And that press conference is… what? Nine days away?” Aladdin asked, even though Jay knew very well that the whole family knew exactly when it was, and they were all awaiting it with almost-anxious anticipation.</p><p>“Nine days,” Jasmine agreed.</p><p>“Are you sure your parents won’t miss you for that long?” Aladdin asked, not being unwelcoming, just very carefully digging for more information.</p><p>“No,” Audrey said with equally careful nonchalance. “They understand that I want to be here to help Jay get ready for his first big public appearance. I’ve <em>heard </em>that to people who aren’t used to it, that sort of thing can be unnerving, and I <em>know </em>that sometimes it’s nice to have a… someone else around who’s your own age, instead of just an endless parade of tutors.” She grinned, moving her and Jay’s intertwined hands to the tabletop as she said brightly, “So, here I am.”</p><p>Now Jasmine was the one who wanted to ask more questions, Jay could see it in her eyes, but Aladdin said, “That sounds great. We’ll be glad to have you, princess.”</p><p>Audrey’s smile became far more genuine as she replied, “Thank you. I’m very glad to be here.”</p><hr/><p>After breakfast, they all went their own separate ways for the day, with Jasmine, Aladdin, and Aziz going off to do what Jay had begun to vaguely classify as “royal things” – things that he would be doing, too, soon enough, but didn’t have to concern himself with yet. Jay, as it seemed like he was always doing, trudged to the school room, and Audrey made a quick escape back to the guest room.</p><p>As the day sloughed on, and with the time of “reckoning” – or, more accurately, assessment scores – looming just around the corner, Jay even took his lunch in the school room with a book on the Forty Thieves open on the desk in front of him. <em>Finally, now that the torturous assignments were almost through, he’d found something actually </em>interesting<em> that they wanted him to learn. </em></p><p>It wasn’t until he was done with his official studies for the day and heading for the dinner table that he saw Audrey again. She caught up to him as they both left their bedrooms, her tone a little dry with sarcasm as she said, “Oh, good, you’ll be here for this meal. You realize you left me completely alone with your family for lunch, right?”</p><p>“You did so well this morning, I figured you’re you’d do fine on your own.”</p><p>“Without so much as a warning from my—” she stumbled over the term, but her accusatory tone never wavered. “My partner in crime? You couldn’t even send me a text?”</p><p>Now Jay winced a little as he admitted, “Yeah, I probably could’ve done that.”</p><p>“M-hm,” Audrey agreed.</p><p>“Sorry,” Jay said, but in the face of her continued attitude, he meant it a little less than he otherwise might have. He and Audrey both noticed Ahmed passing by in the hall at the same time, and Jay added for Aziz’s assistant’s benefit, “I’ll make it up to you.”</p><p>“I’m sure you will,” Audrey agreed, <em>bopping him on the nose </em>with a smile.</p><p>He brushed her hand away from his face, catching it in his own as Ahmed walked back out of hearing range.</p><p>“Too much?” Audrey asked quietly.</p><p>“Yeah,” he answered, requesting just as quietly. “Don’t do that.”</p><p>“Alright.”</p><p>As they continued their trek to dinner, he asked, “Did you say anything to my family that I need to be aware of? Add to the… the lie in any way?”</p><p>He hated that part of this, even though he still had a feeling the lie wouldn’t necessarily last very long if it were left up to Aladdin to figure out the truth.</p><p>Audrey shook her head before he could bury himself too deeply in the thought. “No. I figured the simpler the better when it comes to lies, right? At lunch, I just talked to Aziz about tourney, talked to the sultan about the irrigation systems he’s looking into with the agriculturists, and talked to the sultana about the wildlife rehabilitation programs she supports.</p><p>“See, the trick is to get people talking about things they’re passionate about, and then I didn’t really have to talk at all. I could just be quiet and listen.”</p><p>Jay smirked sideways at her, teasing in a way that he knew was a little mean, “I’ve never known you to want to be quiet.”</p><p>She looked at him, her eyes serious in a way that he didn’t really know how to translate as she said with a thin smile, “But you don’t really know me at all, do you?”</p><p><em>She had a point</em>, he could admit that, but that didn’t mean he knew what to do about it. Rather than dwell on it, he let the thought go as they stepped into the sitting room for dinner with his family.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After dinner, Aladdin asked Jay casually, “Since your mom got you yesterday, can I take you on a walk this evening?”</p><p><em>This was going to be the part where Aladdin dug the truth out of him, wasn’t it? </em>Feeling a little relieved despite the sudden worry that it might be a betrayal of Audrey’s already tenuous trust, he stood to his feet, replying gamely, “Sure.”</p><p>“Don’t be out too late,” Jasmine kissed Aladdin, reminding him, “You’re not as young as you used to be, and Jay has the last of his assessments tomorrow.”</p><p>“So close to done,” Aziz reminded Jay with a smile, and Jay pumped his fist in very genuine excitement over the idea.</p><p>Aladdin and Jay left the palace as Jasmine and Aziz turned to a game of chess, and Audrey curled up on the settee with her phone.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Jay asked as Aladdin led him out the back entrance to the courtyard.</p><p>“I heard Delia mention to Jasmine that you actually came home a little earlier than we were expecting you to last night, so I thought I’d take you back into the city and show you <em>my </em>favorite place to watch the sunset,” Aladdin replied.</p><p>“Cool. I… have to admit, I wasn’t paying as much attention to it last night as I think M—Jasmine wanted me to.” <em>Where had </em>that <em>slip of the tongue come from?!</em></p><p>Aladdin’s gaze cut sideways to Jay, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth as he said, “Don’t worry, kid. We’re just going to talk about one thing at a time tonight, and I don’t <em>think</em> being your ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ is on the docket tonight.”</p><p>“But you’re not sure?”</p><p>Aladdin shrugged. “Let’s just see where the conversation takes us, shall we?”</p><p>Jay nodded, not quite comfortable with the way Aladdin was still searching his expression. Suddenly, Aladdin beamed, turned on his heel, and ran. “Last one to the village gets to read over the traffic laws addendums when we get home!”</p><p><em>That didn’t sound like fun</em>, Jay decided, bursting into a run, and whooping when he managed to outpace his stepfather.</p><p>They slowed down when they reached the city, and once Aladdin had caught his breath, he waved Jay forward, saying, “This way,” as he led him down one of the many side streets at the edge of the town square. Doubling around the back of a building, Aladdin suddenly hit the side of what Jay was pretty sure was an abandoned business; either it had once been a hotel or a brothel, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know which. A loose brick popped out of the wall near where Aladdin’s fist had landed, and the sultan used the resulting hole as a foothold as he scaled the side of the building.</p><p>Grinning at finally seeing the side of his stepfather that he had always known was there, Jay scrabbled his own way up the building beside Aladdin until they reached the flat at the top level and entered through a pane-less window.</p><p>“How did you find this place?” Jay asked, looking around the dusty, abandoned space.</p><p>“I stumbled upon it ages ago when I still lived on these streets. It was home sweet home for a long while.”</p><p>Jay looked around the dark room, mentally comparing it to the spacious rooms of the palace. “Whoa… It must’ve been a huge change to move into the palace from here.”</p><p>“It was,” Aladdin agreed, sitting in the window on the other side of the room and gesturing for Jay to join him. “I’ll tell you all about it one day.”</p><p>“Why not tell me about it now?” Jay asked, sitting on the sill beside Aladdin.</p><p>The sultan gave Jay a look that was fond but said they both knew why not. “Because right now, I want to talk about Princess Audrey.”</p><p>Jay looked away, towards the fiery sunset as he asked, “What about her?”</p><p>“What are you doing, Jay? Why are you lying to your mother and I?”</p><p>Sometimes it was refreshing how forthright he’d found Aladdin to be amid all of Auradon’s carefully polite people; sometimes that forthrightness… didn’t work in Jay’s favor. Like now. “Who says we’re lying?” he hedged instead of answering.</p><p>“You know…” Aladdin hummed. “At breakfast this morning, I was totally prepared to give you both the benefit of the doubt. I thought maybe the princess was still a part of your friend group, and she’d found out about your… status that way, then she’d… turned her sights on you. But no. She said you’d been dating all summer – and that’s where she messed up. Princess Audrey’s a pretty good liar, judging by this morning, but she doesn’t know herself as well as she thinks she does, because the truth of her is that she wouldn’t be caught dead dating a non-royal, and everyone else knows it. So. Let’s try this again. What’s going on, and why are you lying about it?”</p><p>Jay sighed, truly regretting his answer as he said, “I really can’t tell you. It’s not my story to tell, and I don’t want to betray her trust.”</p><p>Aladdin’s left eyebrow twitched, just barely as he continued to stare at Jay in clear displeasure. “Is she in some sort of trouble, or is this some weird teenage, ‘don’t trust the authority’ VK thing?”</p><p>Jay winced but didn’t answer. Somehow, he’d expected Aladdin to have more figured out when they had this conversation; he’d expected to be spared from having to betray Audrey’s trust because he’d expected Aladdin to magically know… but that wasn’t what was happening, and he didn’t know what to do. So, he didn’t do anything, just kept staring out at the sunset and waiting for the real rebuke to start.</p><p>Seeing that Jay was starting to shut down, Aladdin sighed. “You know what? I take back that VK comment, I think. I know she’s in some sort of trouble.”</p><p>“Oh? How’s that?”</p><p>“Because there is absolutely <em>no </em>good reason for a royal to look at food the way she did this morning – just for a second. Did you catch it? There’s nice, normal hungry, and then there’s <em>hungry </em>– which you and I both know – and she was definitely the latter. Why?”</p><p>“If I thought I could tell you… safely,” Jay promised hesitantly. “I would. I swear. I just, I don’t know enough about her situation yet to know what’s going to make things better for her or make them worse, so, please, just let me do what I know will help for now.”</p><p>“Jay, if anyone is in trouble, you can <em>trust us</em> – trust your mom and I – and we’ll help you. This isn’t the Isle; you don’t have to handle things by yourself anymore.”</p><p>“I know that, I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not my story to tell. Until I know more, let me handle this the way I do know will help her.”</p><p>“By <em>dating </em>her?” Aladdin asked with raised eyebrows.</p><p>Jay sighed. “As screwed up as it sounds… yeah.” Aladdin considered him for a long moment, still clearly confused, but thinking, so Jay added, “You know, last night, Mom gave me a knife, and she trusted me to use good judgement on when I used it or didn’t use it. Even in a potentially dangerous place, in dark back alleys by myself, it turns out I didn’t have to use it. Trust me to use my good judgement here, and I <em>will </em>do it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And you <em>promise </em>me that if anything changes or gets worse somehow, you will tell an actual adult?” Aladdin requested.</p>
<p>“If I knew I could tell you, you would already know,” Jay informed him earnestly.</p>
<p>“Is that a ‘yes?’”</p>
<p>Jay smiled carefully. “It is.”</p>
<p>Aladdin nodded as he turned to watch the last of the sunset. “Okay. But, for the record, I don’t like it. At all. And, also for the record, either you’re admitting to your mother that this is a ruse, or I’m telling her for you.” He knocked his shoulder against Jay’s, advising, “You don’t want it to come from me. Whatever this is, you don’t want it getting to her through anyone but you.”</p>
<p>Jay cringed, hating that he even had to ask the question: “Even if that means I have to admit I lied a little?”</p>
<p>“<em>Especially </em>if you lied about something. It’s always best to come clean for yourself in cases like that. You’re gonna wanna trust me there.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure you’re right,” he admitted.</p>
<p>They watched the sun slide behind the dunes until darkness had fallen and Aladdin moved onto his feet, offering Jay a hand as he asked, “Should we go home and rip off that band-aid?”</p>
<p>“I guess there’s not really any way around it?” Jay asked hopefully.</p>
<p>Aladdin smiled encouragingly even as he shook his head and stretched out his hand to help Jay up. “No, I’m afraid not.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>When they got back to the palace, everyone was in their bedrooms for the night, so Aladdin led Jay past Jay’s room, Aziz’s, and the guest room Audrey was staying in. He knocked on the door furthest down the hall, stuck his head in, and murmured, “Can Jay come in? He needs to talk to you.”</p>
<p>Jasmine must have nodded, because Aladdin opened the door further and gestured for Jay to follow him in.</p>
<p>Jasmine was sitting at her vanity, braiding her hair for the night, and as she finished winding a hair-tie around the end of the braid, she reached a hand out to him. “Is everything alright, Jay?”</p>
<p>Jay knelt in front of her, not sure what to say as he looked at her caring expression. “I don’t want to lie to you,” he blurted.</p>
<p>Her eyebrows rose as her expression flashed with surprise. “I don’t want you to lie to me, either.”</p>
<p>“Audrey.” He began to try to explain what he could, and a knowing look settled onto his mother’s face. “I just… want you to know that I’m not dating her, not actually, but there are things going on in her life that… will be made easier if she’s dating… someone like me, so we’re pretending to date to help her.”</p>
<p>Jasmine considered that for a long moment before asking, “I don’t suppose you’re willing to tell us the <em>whole </em>story?”</p>
<p>He shook his head regretfully, desperately hoping she wouldn’t try and push the issue.</p>
<p>To his relief, she only nodded, as if she’d expected that response.</p>
<p>“And you know we’re here if you’re ever ready to discuss it, if you ever get in over your head? If you need anything, we’re here for you, my little street rat.”</p>
<p>Jay smiled, sad but fond as he assured both her and Aladdin, “I know, and I appreciate it.” His brows knit together as he admitted, “More than I know how to say right now. I just… I don’t want to hide things from you; I hate it, but I promised, and I won’t break a promise when I really think she needs to be able to trust me right now.”</p>
<p>“And that’s fine,” Aladdin broke in, though he was still clearly wary of it. “But don’t forget that you promised me too – promised me that you <em>would </em>tell us if something more happens.”</p>
<p>“And I will,” Jay affirmed gravely.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Jasmine said softly. “Thank you for telling me – for telling us – what you can.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Jay answered with a careful smile as he stood to his feet, beginning to turn to leave them for the night.</p>
<p>“And Jay?” Jasmine said sternly.</p>
<p>He frowned, turning back to her. “Yes?”</p>
<p>There was a soft threat of maternal wrath brewing in her eyes as she ordered, “Don’t lie to us again. I want better than that for our relationship. And I don’t think I have to tell you that lies aren’t how we try to go about things around here, do I?”</p>
<p>“No, ma’am, you don’t. And I will try my very best to be as honest as I can be in the future.”</p>
<p>His thoughts starting to tangle, he slipped out of their room and into his own before Jasmine or Aladdin could point out that wasn’t the response they’d been asking for. As he realized that someone unexpected was waiting for him in his bedroom, he lashed out, nearly throwing a punch before he processed who it was.</p>
<p>“What’s the matter with you?!” Audrey hissed, jumping back so that the punch was nothing more than a glancing blow off her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Why are you in my room?!”</p>
<p>“I thought the deal was that I help you study,” she pointed out. “And you’ve been doing that after dinner, right? I came to help you, to keep my end of the bargain – unless you were expecting me not to?”</p>
<p>There was a flash in her eyes that said she would be all too happy to leave him to it, and he, for one, would’ve been all too happy not to study at all, but his growing sense of responsibility – and growing terror over his assessment results – won out as he said, “No, you’re right. I’d appreciate the help.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” she answered carefully, gesturing to the pile of books on his bedside table. “What subject do you still need the most work in?”</p>
<p>“Probably memorizing all this?” Jay suggested, leveraging one of the thicker books out of the middle of the pile.</p>
<p>“<em>Agrabah Civil Law</em>,” Audrey read the spine with a distinct look of disenchantment. “That’s fair. It’s not easy to memorize centuries of laws.”</p>
<p>“And it’s all in stupid, fancy jargon,” Jay complained.</p>
<p>Audrey smiled, and it was actually… sympathetic, he realized, as she said, “Let’s see if I can make some of it make more sense, then, shall we?” She took the book from him, put it in her lap, and folded her hands over it, requesting, “But before we do that, why don’t you tell me what the sultan was after.” She was looking at him shrewdly again, doing her pitiful best to disguise her worry as she asked, “Did he figure us out or something?”</p>
<p>“Something close to it,” Jay admitted, not at all surprised to find that she’d had an ulterior motive to coming to him tonight. “He knew we weren’t telling the truth, so I admitted to him that we’re only pretending to date, and I explained that we were doing it because it helped you somehow,” she was beginning to look at him fearfully, and he held up his hands, swearing, “But that’s all I said, and I made it clear that’s all I <em>would </em>say. He just made me repeat what I’d told him to my mom when we got back here.”</p>
<p>“Are they angry?” she asked guardedly.</p>
<p>“I don’t think so.” He sighed regretfully. “If anything, I think they’re disappointed.”</p>
<p>Audrey winced, and her sympathy was far clearer as she said, “That’s worse.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Jay chuckled dryly. “It is. But… I’ll live.”</p>
<p>“Are we still going to stick to our story, then?”</p>
<p>“I’m not going to abandon our deal, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jay answered. “I’ll help you for however long you need me to.”</p>
<p>She smiled gratefully, cracking open the book and letting the moment pass as she agreed, “And I’ll do the same for you.”</p>
<p>“Maybe with your help,” he said hopefully, grudgingly turning his attention to the schoolwork. “I can do well enough on these assessments that I can redeem myself that way.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>He should’ve known better, </em>Jay berated himself, so frustrated by the time that he got the last of his assessment results that he threw the entire sheaf of papers across the school room just so that he didn’t have to look at them anymore.</p><p>Audrey, who he’d forgotten had spent her afternoon sitting in the corner of the room on her phone, looked up at the noise and watched the collection of papers flutter around the room. The startled tutor only stared at Jay with wide eyes, clearly unsure what to do with his minor outburst.</p><p>“Mr. Mahone, if you could leave us for a minute?” Audrey politely addressed the tutor as she stood, and the man looked all too happy to do as asked.</p><p>Giving Jay a disapproving look as Mahone shut them in alone together, Audrey stooped down to pick up some of the test results. “You’d better help me get these.”</p><p>“Leave ‘em; they don’t say anything I didn’t already know,” Jay groused, putting his head on his arms where they were folded across his desk.</p><p>“And what is it that you know?” Audrey asked, leaving the papers as he’d suggested and coming to sit in the chair beside Jay instead.</p><p>“That this was a waste of time. It was never actually going to show that I was ahead in anything. I’m a twenty-year-old thief with a high school sophomore’s education, and they want me to suddenly become a prince, and it’s not going to work.”</p><p>“Alright,” Audrey said firmly. “Enough of a pity party. Regardless of the results,” she waved the few pieces of paper she still held. “This was not a waste of time. I guarantee you that you know more about Agrabah than you ever thought you would before these assessments started. Right?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jay shrugged, knowing what she was doing, but determined to be mad regardless. “So what? I don’t get to skip ahead in <em>anything </em>despite all the work I put in.”</p><p>“And I get that you’re disappointed about that, but it <em>also </em>means that you get to finish school with your friends, which is not as small a thing as I think you think it is.”</p><p>“Is that how you feel about being held back?” Jay asked with more bite than she deserved.</p><p>“Yes, actually,” she said with a thin smile and a warning flash in her eyes. “On the good days, anyway.”</p><p>“And on the bad days?”</p><p>“And on the bad days, I sulk uselessly, and make those friends I mentioned not want to be around me,” she shot back pointedly.</p><p>“Then why are you here? You’re free to leave,” Jay declared, putting his forehead back down on his arms.</p><p>“Well, it was either I continue to hide in the guest room, or I hide in here with you, and I had a feeling…”</p><p>She trailed off, and Jay raised his head to glare at her, hating the way she searched his face with an unexpected compassion in her gaze. “Had a feeling that, what, this was going to happen? I was going to fail?”</p><p>Audrey swallowed, uncertain but not intimidated as she replied, “I was <em>going to say </em>that I had a feeling you would need a friend around today, and last I checked all of our friends were pretty far away, plus Aziz is spending the weekend in Arendelle, so we’re stuck with each other instead.”</p><p>“So, what now? Since you knew this was coming, do you know what to do about it?” Jay asked, dropping his head back onto his arms.</p><p>She huffed, and the next thing Jay knew, delicate hands had grabbed his forearms and pulled them off the desk so that his head hit the desk with a thud. “Since you’re asking, I know you have stop sulking to do anything about it. And you should really stop being a brat to the person who’s promised to help you.”</p><p>“<em>I </em>should stop being a brat?” Jay repeated, rubbing his forehead where hitting it had made his already throbbing headache worse.</p><p>Audrey smiled merrily. “Yes. We both knew that a day and a half of academic discussions weren’t going to be some magic ‘fix-all.’ I offered to help you with your studies, and as long as we’re both in Agrabah, that’s what I’m going to do.”</p><p>“How?” Jay snapped, throwing his hands up.</p><p>Audrey poked a finger harmlessly into his chest, ordering, “Watch the temper. As for ‘how’… you do know this was supposed to be the slow introduction into royal life, right? The books were the easy part, now comes the reality of royal life.”</p><p><em>Yeah, he could remember Jasmine and Aladdin saying something like that. </em>“And the reality is what?”</p><p>“That I don’t know for sure, but I could take some guesses. You’ll need further classes of some sort: speech, decorum, dance—”</p><p>“Shoot me now,” Jay groaned, cutting her off.</p><p>“It’s not so bad,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “At least it’ll get you out of this room.”</p><p>“There is that for it,” Jay admitted on a sigh. “But, really, <em>decorum</em>?”</p><p>“It’s only a guess, Jay, don’t freak out yet, okay. If nothing else, we all know that you know how to make a good show, and that’s a class that you might be able to,” she hesitated. “Pardon my French but bullshit your way through.”</p><p>That forced a chuckle out of him before he could catch it. “Oh, ho, the lady swears!”</p><p>Audrey smirked. “Please don’t tell me you think only VKs do that, too?”</p><p>“Not in front of your mother, you don’t. Do you?”</p><p>“Of course not. Would you swear in front of <em>your </em>mother?”</p><p>“Hell no. If you haven’t noticed, she can be really intimidating.”</p><p>“She really can be,” Audrey agreed with a chuckle. Jay relaxed at the casual conversation, and Audrey gave him another assessing look as she asked on a more serious note. “Are you going to be okay?”</p><p>“Are you kidding?” Jay shrugged dismissively. “I’ve faced <em>way </em>worse than this.”</p><p>“I know.” They were suddenly dancing carefully around the edges of real friendship, Jay realized – <em>and how had that happened inside of two days </em>– as Audrey added, “But I also know that disappointment – for you, or by you and for someone else – is difficult for you to handle. We’re alike in that way.”</p><p>“That’s why I have you around to help me out, right?” Jay asked, deciding to do as she’d suggested and put his sulking behind him.</p><p>She gave him another cocky smile. “Exactly.”</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’re being quiet tonight,” Jasmine said softly, looking up from the papers on her lap desk to where Jay was sharing the settee with her.</p><p>Jay shrugged as he looked up from his phone. “I’ve not really had an evening off like this since I’ve been here. I guess I don’t know what to do with it.”</p><p>Jasmine shook her head. “There’s something else.” He knew he was in for another “conversation” whether or not he wanted it when she set her lap desk aside and asked, “What is it?”</p><p>“Audrey told me I’m not allowed to sulk about it,” Jay admitted with a sigh. “So, I’m really trying not to, but I <em>really </em>wanted to do better on the assessments than I did. I’m disappointed in myself, I guess.”</p><p>“And?” Jasmine pressed.</p><p>“And… I don’t want you to be disappointed in me either.”</p><p>“We are not disappointed in the assessment results,” Jasmine promised, moving closer to put an arm around his shoulders. “We saw how hard you worked, and how much you <em>have </em>learned, and I, for one, am so proud of you for that.”</p><p>“We both are,” Aladdin agreed, looking over from his own paperwork. “Besides, I think you were looking at the assessments the wrong way.”</p><p>“He’s right,” Jasmine agreed, seeing Jay’s look of confusion. “They weren’t <em>tests</em>, they were assessments. We wanted to see where you’re really at academically so that we know where you need to go moving forward. You did exactly what we needed to do, and there’s no <em>reason </em>for us to be disappointed. Do you understand?”</p><p>Jay nodded, because he did understand what they meant… he just wasn’t sure he agreed.</p><p>Jasmine put her head on his shoulder, asking, “What else aren’t you saying?”</p><p><em>How did she know him this well already? How? Were his emotions really that clearly on his face? </em> He had a feeling that it would do little good to try fibbing here – it had yet to work for him in this house, actually – and so he tried to explain hesitantly, “I guess I thought that if I could do well on the assessments, if I could prove to you what I was capable of, if my results could come back… good, I… it would help to make up for the Audrey thing, because I know you guys aren’t happy about it, and I <em>don’t </em>want you to think that I’m some conniving… street rat, because I <em>can </em>be more than that.”</p><p>“Jay,” Jasmine began carefully. “You understand that when I call you that, it’s just as a term of endearment, right?”</p><p>“I do.” Jay leaned his head over on hers, his small smile wavering as he admitted, “Just… whenever I’ve ever heard it from anyone else, it’s not been.”</p><p>Aladdin winced, and that was when <em>he </em>set aside his work, too. “Okay, counterargument to the ‘Audrey thing’: as much as you know how, you are trying to help your friend… and the truth of the matter is that, through no fault of your own, you’ve been raised in a way that means that you don’t necessarily know how to help without throwing a little misbehavior into the mix.”</p><p>Jay’s shoulders fell, not because he thought Aladdin was wrong, but because, “I don’t want to have to be that way.” Realistic outlook or not, he didn’t want them to think that of him.</p><p>“You won’t always be,” Aladdin said. “That’s why what you’re going through right now is called a ‘<em>learning </em>curve,’ because you’re still learning. Learning how good behavior, and how Auradon and Agrabah work.”</p><p>“And we’re here to help you with all of that, as your parents, not to get upset when something takes an unexpected turn or two,” Jasmine added.</p><p>“But don’t knowingly lie again, or I’ll face the wrath of Mom?” Jay hazarded.</p><p>“Oh yeah, that, too,” Jasmine replied, lightness and seriousness woven together in her tone. “But for now, because we understand there are extenuating circumstances, we’re going to… let that go, while working on other things, like your public speaking, comportment, dancing, and real-life application of what you’ve been studying this week.”</p><p>“While we keep an eye on the ‘Audrey thing,’” Aladdin added. “Unless you can convince her to come down here so we can talk about it while Aziz is gone?”</p><p>Jay shook his head. “I don’t think so; she won’t think that’s a good idea, yet, but you’re free to keep an eye on whatever you want.”</p><p>“Alright,” Aladdin replied, the corners of his mouth pulling downward even though he didn’t fight Jay on it.</p><p>“What’s comportment?” Jay asked, sudden and suspicious.</p><p>Aladdin grinned wryly. “It’s <em>behavior</em>. You’re gonna <em>hate </em>it.”</p><p>“I know how to behave!” Jay objected. When Aladdin arched his eyebrows, clearly thinking of the conversation they’d had only moments ago, Jay amended, “I know how to act and blend in when I need to.”</p><p>“Yes,” Jasmine agreed, “But there can be a difference between what you’re talking about and… mastering the social graces for when one is in the public eye, which you will be very soon.”</p><p>Jay sighed dramatically but didn’t move from where he was curled into his mom.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Aladdin said. “The rest of it should be fine. You’ve got the charisma to manage speeches, as long as the hypothetical cameras and microphones don’t spook you, so that shouldn’t take you too long to master. We can definitely find a way for you to enjoy dance class, I have a feeling—”</p><p>“What kind of dances are we talking about, because I know how to dance; I can probably blow through those lessons, too.”</p><p>“Traditional Agrabahn dances,” Jasmine replied. “Not your usual fare, but something I think you’ll excel at, nonetheless. Speech classes will be loosely tied in with decorum, and practical learning will be you accompanying Aladdin, Aziz, and I as we go about our work here in Agrabah. Does that sound acceptable?” Jay nodded, and the conversation tapered off as Jasmine replied, “Good.”</p><p>Content to allow himself a minute to sit in the quiet with them as he absorbed everything – and it all still buzzed in the back of his mind, feeling like <em>a lot </em>to take in – Jay curled his legs up onto the couch, halfway into Jasmine’s lap as he wrapped his arms around her. He was twenty-years-old, a full head taller than her, and probably a hundred pounds heavier; this was as close as he was ever going to get to being a little boy able to sit on his mom’s lap, and she, with a breathy chuckle, seemed to understand that.</p><p>“Comfortable?” she asked quietly.</p><p>“M-hm.”</p><p>“Okay.” She patted his knee, moving only as far as it took for her to kiss him on the cheek as she let him rest on her.</p><p>“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered, not sure what, exactly, he was thanking her for, except maybe for being a steady presence in this whole, crazy ride into princedom.</p><p>There was another soft catch in her breath, just barely audible, before she answered gently, “You’re welcome, son.”</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, as they sat around the breakfast table, Jasmine asked, “Audrey, I’m planning on accompanying Jay when he and Rafi go to the tailor’s this morning. Would you like to come too?”</p><p>“Oh,” she lit up at the idea. “Could I?”</p><p>“Of course,” Jasmine replied with a smile.</p><p>Jay shrugged, willing to go along with whatever the two women wanted in this particular… adventure. “Sure.”</p><p>Audrey smiled at him, pointing out, “You don’t have to look so thrilled about going.”</p><p>“I don’t? Great.” He immediately let his shoulders droop, pulling his mouth down into an exaggerated frown.</p><p>Audrey rolled her eyes as Aladdin snorted into his tea, and Jasmine muttered something about “boys.”</p><p>“Sorry, Mom,” Jay said with a grin and almost no sincerity.</p><p>“M-hm,” Jasmine hummed skeptically, but no one missed her bitten-back smile. She sobered, though, when she turned again to Audrey and said, “I’ve been thinking; we haven’t been very good hosts to you.”</p><p>The three other people at the table turned to her in confusion as Audrey assured her with a small frown, “You’ve been perfect.”</p><p>“No. We haven’t. Your clothes.”</p><p>“Oh,” Audrey tried to wave Jasmine’s concern away. “My outfit’s been washed every night.”</p><p>“I know,” Jasmine was watching Audrey with the same gentleness she’d turn on her sons. “But I’d like to get you something else – a couple more outfits – while we’re out today. As long as you don’t mind traditional Agrabahn clothes?”</p><p>Audrey looked uncertainly between Jasmine and Jay murmuring, “I can’t accept that.”</p><p>“You can and you will,” Jasmine declared with kind firmness. She stood, squeezing Audrey’s shoulder gently as she added, “While you’re here, you’re a part of our family, right? And I take care of my family.”</p><p>She hurried out of the room before anything else could be said.</p><p>Still mostly confused – and worried, if Jay didn’t miss his mark – Audrey followed Jay back to his room after they’d finished their own breakfasts. “I don’t see what the problem is,” Jay admitted once they were alone. “And, honestly, you seem like the sort of person who would enjoy getting gifts.”</p><p>“I do,” Audrey said. “But the more I’m out, the more I risk someone reporting back to my family, and—and besides that, there’s a difference between a gift, and charity, and this feels more like charity. Doing something for someone because you feel sorry for them, and I <em>hate </em>charity.” Her eyebrows drew together as she realized how that had sounded, and she corrected, “I hate accepting charity.”</p><p>“Well,” Jay asked curiously. “Are <em>you </em>going to try and tell my mom ‘no,’ because I’m not.”</p><p>Audrey blew out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, because we saw how well <em>that </em>went.”</p><p>“Exactly.” Jay sat down on his bed, and she sat down beside him as he said, “It’d be easier for everybody, as I have a feeling it usually is, if you just go along with what she wants.”</p><p>“Don’t you think we’re in too deep now, though – and your family, too? If Grammy finds out what I’ve done, it’ll cause problems between her and your parents, and that could lead to problems between <em>Auroria </em>and <em>Ag</em>—”</p><p>“Stop it,” Jay ordered firmly, seeing the beginnings of the same nervous rattling he’d see in Carlos right before his roommate started getting truly lost inside his own head. “Hey, look at me. My parents know something is up – they don’t know what, but they know something is up – and they will do whatever it takes to protect you while you’re here. That’s what Mom was trying to tell you; while you’re here, you’re family, and she takes care of family. Really, really well, actually, so don’t worry about it. We’ve got your back, okay?”</p><p>Audrey sighed deeply, looking at her hands where they were tangled together in her lap so that they didn’t tick and bely her nerves. “Okay.”</p><p>Jay thought back to the night before, to how safe he’d felt curled up with his mom, and he was surprised by how badly he suddenly wanted to wrap Audrey up in the same safe feeling. Instead, he said by way of breaking the depressing air between them, “Now, I’m getting ready to change, so either you’re going to want to leave, or you’re going to get an eyeful of shirtless VK.”</p><p>She smirked over at him, taking the bait even though her eyes were still troubled as she said, “It would probably help sell the ruse of your being my boyfriend if I stayed for that.”</p><p>Jay shrugged out of his vest, saying casually, “Fine by me.”</p><p>“I was joking!” Audrey yelped, jumping off the bed and heading for the door before he could so much as touch the hem of his t-shirt.</p><p><em>It was so easy to tease her sometimes. </em> Jay chuckled, changing, redoing his hair, and brushing his teeth before he reemerged from his bedroom and went to knock on her bedroom door. “You ready to go?” he asked when she opened it.</p><p>She nodded, stepping out and taking his arm without him offering it as she said thoughtfully, “I do have a couple questions.”</p><p>“Okay?”</p><p>“I thought you said that you told your parents that our… relationship was a ruse?”</p><p>“I did.” Jay smiled slyly at her, pointing out, “That doesn’t mean that, if you want to keep up the ruse, they can’t use it against you – which is definitely what Mom did.”</p><p>“Ah,” Audrey said flatly, the truth of that dawning on her before she smiled at him and said, “And then there’s that <em>word</em>. You keep calling the sultana ‘Mom.’”</p><p>Jay shrugged like it was no big deal, hoping that if he acted like it wasn’t then Audrey would do the same. “That’s what she is, isn’t she?”</p><p>“Yes,” Audrey agreed with a nod and a smile. “She is.”</p><p>Not sure exactly how to discuss the strange topic with Audrey, Jay was grateful when she let it go and lapsed into silence as they joined Jasmine in the car and drove with Rafi to the tailor’s.</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they got to the tailor’s, Jay kept one eye and ear on Audrey, and the other eye and ear tuned into the near-gibberish being exchanged by his mom and the tailor. The trio of women put him on a literal pedestal and took measurements of him in his new clothes. More notes were taken on each piece, some more pins were stuck in clothes that looked fine to him, and the women chattered away above it all. Rafi even added a couple comments, but Jay couldn’t have translated any of it.</p><p>In between feeling deeply uncomfortable with all the attention, poking and prodding, and unfamiliar clothes, he kept glancing over at Audrey, checking in. This appointment had her whole attention, her gaze alternating between serious and glittering. She loved things like this, she was <em>good </em>at this.</p><p>It occurred to Jay that Audrey was still the head of the school’s decorating committee for a reason, and, in a sense, these clothes were the way to decorate <em>him </em>for formal occasions. It was no wonder she was good at this.</p><p>Jay distracted himself from his growing boredom with his own thoughts until he put on a new overcoat, and a little voice declared, “That’s my favorite of yours!”</p><p>Five startled pairs of eyes swung towards a coatrack draped with fabric to see a little head – a girl of about seven – emerge from hiding as she pointed at Jay’s jacket.</p><p>“Hush, Lila,” the tailor rebuked her. “I told you to d-draw <em>quietly</em>, remember?”</p><p>“We don’t mind,” Jasmine murmured, quietly enough that she was still deferring to the tailor as a mother.</p><p>“Well,” the tailor smiled fondly at her daughter. “Alright, then.”</p><p>“Would you like to come sit here?” Rafi asked Lila, gesturing to the wide amount of bench space between himself and Audrey.</p><p>Lila nodded, scampering across the room with a sketchpad that was as wide as she was. She climbed onto the bench far closer to Audrey than Rafi and went back to drawing.</p><p>Viewing Lila as the most entertaining thing in the room, Jay asked with a grin, “Hey, Lila, what makes this jacket the best?”</p><p>Lila looked from her sketchpad to Jay to her mom, who assured her, “It’s okay, honey, he asked you a question.”</p><p>Lila slid off the bench and approached Jay, running a reverent hand over the braiding at the hem of his overcoat. “This part was my idea.”</p><p>The braiding was silver, gold, and white, not just gold like on the other garments.</p><p>“I know that braiding isn’t the type we discussed,” Lila’s mother murmured so that her daughter couldn’t hear. “But I confess, she insisted I show it to you this way, so the braiding’s only whip-stitched onto this garment. I can easily take it off and attach the gold instead.”</p><p>Audrey had approached with Lila to get a closer look at the overcoat, and her eyes flashed with inspiration as she said, “Please don’t. I have an idea.” She smiled down at Lila. “Your design is perfect.”</p><p>Lila beamed at her mother, then at Audrey.</p><p>“’Perfect’ for what?” Rafi asked curiously.</p><p>Instead of answering Rafi directly, she asked Jay, “Don’t you see? Gold is you, and silver and white is… someone else. A perfect little merging.”</p><p>She looked so thrilled that Jay didn’t want to darken the sunniness on her face, but he had to admit, “I only partially understand what you mean, but I trust you with it.”</p><p>Audrey shook her head, still smiling, but this time with exasperation as she said, “Good enough.” She looked over at Jasmine, asking uncertainly, “Do you mind if we leave it like it is?”</p><p>Jasmine watched Audrey with poorly concealed worry as she replied, “No, I don’t mind.”</p><p>Jay was afraid to try and figure out what his mom was thinking, but Audrey clapped her hands, happy just to be given a go-ahead. She wandered away to look at pre-made clothing, calling sweetly, “Lila, what do you know about these saris?”</p><p>Thrilled to be useful, and to have one of her mom’s customers want her opinion, Lila darted to Audrey’s side, asking very seriously, “What’s your favorite color?”</p><p>“Pink,” Audrey declared, her eyes glittering as Jay let himself grin at the girls’ interaction.</p><p>Lila helped Audrey choose a couple outfits from the racks of premade clothing as Jasmine and Rafi oversaw the last of the alterations to Jay’s clothes. They eventually paid for Audrey’s clothes, made arrangements for Rafi to pick up Jay’s things later, and left with Lila waving wildly at Audrey as they got in the car.</p><p>“I think you made a friend,” Rafi observed quietly, smiling as he held the car door open for the three royals.</p><p>Audrey smiled and waved back at Lila before she got in the car behind the sultana.</p><p>Getting in last, Jay smiled uncertainly at Audrey, offering once they were shut in alone, “I think that what you did with that girl is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen from you.”</p><p>He’d meant it as a compliment, but Audrey definitely looked like she didn’t know how to take the remark as she replied, “It wasn’t hard. She’s cute, and she was actually… knowledgeable. She has a good eye for design for her age. I saw clothing designs on her sketchpad, so I thought I’d… give her a… neat experience, let her run a ‘consultation’ with a princess.” She smiled thinly, pointing out, “Sometimes, we can use our position, our influence, for fun things, and that was one of those times. It’s not a big deal, though.”</p><p>“Maybe not a big deal,” Jay allowed, “But it was still cool of you, and it was <em>definitely </em>a big deal to Lila.”</p><p><em>Now </em>she understood what he’d been trying to pay her a compliment, and her smile softened in kind as she said only, “Okay, you’re right.”</p><p>Jay’s smile widened as he felt her displeasure dissipate in the air between them as he teased, “Oh, I’m definitely right.”</p><p>Audrey rolled her eyes, but she was biting back a smile as she turned away from him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once they were back at the palace, Rafi texted Jay and Audrey in a group message, “<em>Sayida Nya is waiting for you in the ballroom.</em>”</p><p><em>Shit. Dance class. </em>Jay sprang up from his bed, closing the game he’d been playing on his phone to text Rafi, “<em>Thanks</em>.”</p><p>This was his very first class with a new teacher, and if he didn’t hurry he was going to be late.</p><p>He was halfway down the hallway before Audrey jogged to his side and said, “Jordan told me about this class of yours, but she didn’t make it sound like my presence was required. Rafi did, though. Do you know why?”</p><p>“Nope,” Jay said flatly. “I just know I’m about to be late.”</p><p>“To your first class with your culture and <em>decorum </em>teacher?” Audrey said incredulously. When Jay nodded, she took his hand and said firmly, “No. We run instead.”</p><p>So, they did, and Audrey jerked them to a stop before he could push open the ballroom door. “Catch your breath, fix your hair, and—and don’t smile so widely. Stuffy decorum teachers like to know that you take their classes seriously.”</p><p>Jay obeyed as he whispered, “’Stuffy’ better than Mahone, or worse than Mahone?”</p><p>Audrey hesitated before answering, “Usually just ‘stuffy’ <em>differently </em>than Mr. Mahone.”</p><p>Jay sighed heavily. “Great.”</p><p>Then he pushed open the ballroom door, and they were greeted by the scent of burning incense sticks and a swathe of pink and purple silk which, when facing them, turned out to be an Agrabahn woman with thick mascara. “Prince Javon, I assume?” the woman asked in an unusually thick Arabic accent. “I’m Sayida Nya, your culture, decorum, and dance teacher.” She bowed to him – something he was still totally uncomfortable with – but she rose from the gesture with a twinkle in her eye, commenting, “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together over the next week. Starting,” she clapped loudly. “With dance – which I’ve heard you’re quite good at.”</p><p>“Ah…” Jay hesitated. “I… can dance, yeah, but I… <em>suspect </em>it’s not the same type of dances.”</p><p>“Probably not,” Sayida Nya allowed, the twinkle still dancing in her eyes as she turned to Audrey and bowed again. “Princess Audrey, I must admit that I wasn’t aware you were to be Prince Javon’s partner. It’s an honor to have you in my class as well.”</p><p><em>That might’ve been a lie</em>, Jay realized suddenly, judging by the look of concealed skepticism that passed through the teacher’s eyes. It caught Jay off-guard, but Audrey didn’t react to it.</p><p>Instead, she seemed more worried about the dance “partner” bit. “Thank you, sayida,” she chuckled as a way to brush off her uncertainty before she admitted, “But I must admit that I didn’t know I was going to be his dance partner.”</p><p>“Ah.” Sayida Nya hesitated. “I seem to recall, milady,” she said carefully. “Teaching King Ben and yourself a couple dances that Agrabahn-connected royals are expected to know. If, that is, you remember them?”</p><p>“I think I do, yes,” Audrey said, trying to ease the way around how delicately Sayida Nya was questioning her.</p><p>“And are you… <em>willing </em>to help, then?” Now Sayida Nya was glancing between her and Jay, trying to figure them out, trying to figure out why Audrey was even here in the first place.</p><p>Audrey slipped her hand into Jay’s, smiling broadly and saying just a bit too emphatically. “Yeah, sure I am.”</p><p>Sayida Nya smiled, clapping again as she said, “Wonderful! Let’s begin.”</p><p>The first dance she showed them wasn’t any touchy, romantic routine like Jay had been afraid it would be. It was fast-paced and sharp, energetic and rhythmic. Mostly, he and Audrey were just dancing across from one another, and Jay found himself enjoying the class.</p><p>Sayida Nya even praised them for doing so well. And then. <em>Then </em>she declared, “I think that’s enough of that dance for today. Let’s move onto another that you’ll need to know soon: the rain dance.”</p><p>Jay’s eyebrows twitched as he repeated, “A <em>rain dance</em>?”</p><p> “It sounds terribly tribal, I know,” Sayida Nya explained with a carefully indulgent smile. “And it does have its roots in the far past, in petitioning the ancient gods for continued rain for the crops during the summer months. In more recent history, though, it’s become part of the celebrations for both the completion of the sowing season and the beginning of the harvest season – any time during which the hope is for prosperity.”</p><p>“Why will <em>I </em>need to know this dance soon?”</p><p>“The theme of the dance is growth, and so, at the harvest festival, the rain dance is traditionally performed by the <em>heir </em>to the throne as his way of declaring to the gathered citizens that he, too, wishes to grow – as a man and as a leader.”</p><p>“Cool,” Jay said with a shrug, trying to also shrug off his unease at being referred to as an heir to a throne. He was still working on processing that part of being Jasmine’s son.</p><p>He forgot to be nervous about the throne when Sayida Nya continued, “This dance, with it’s theme of prosperity, is traditionally performed by a couple to elude to said couple’s hope for the ‘prosperity’ of their royal line, and as I walk you both through the steps you’ll see… moments of that.”</p><p>“Because, if I remember right,” Audrey commented on a sigh. “The rain dance has moments of closeness and romance between the dance partners.”</p><p>“Precisely,” Sayida Nya said approvingly, confusion flashing through her eyes as apprehension swelled in Audrey’s. “Are you comfortable continuing as the partner in this dance, princess?”</p><p>“Of course.” Audrey’s tone was light, her smile just barely the wrong side of tight, but she turned towards Jay expectantly anyway.</p><p>Knowing what it was that she expected, he extended a hand to her with a careful question in his eyes. <em>She didn’t have to do this if she didn’t want to; didn’t she know?</em></p><p>Audrey took his hand, nodding, only barely, with a steadiness in her eyes that was suddenly helping to ease <em>him</em>.</p><p>“Very well,” Sayida Nya said with a nod. “Now, this dance starts with the two of you together, hands intertwined, foreheads touching.”</p><p><em>They were supposed to “sell” their relationship, </em>Jay reminded himself as Audrey stepped closer and he lowered his forehead to hers.</p><p>They had been close before, since he’d caught her in Agrabah – when she’d hid behind him on the rooftop, knelt beside his chair that first night, when he’d held his hand or arm as they walked together – but this was <em>different. </em>This felt really… <em>intimate</em>, breathing each other’s air, going half-cross-eyed to look at her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Audrey closed her eyes rather than go cross-eyed as Sayida Nya pointed out, “If you haven’t yet, this is your chance to take a deep breath, to <em>relax</em>.” She left them as they were for the second it took to turn on the music. “There’s a three-beat intro, and then, do you remember the ‘lotus’ hand gesture I showed you both earlier? Your next three beats are that, but with a unified twist. Keep holding hands on one side, but move to side by side and reach across your bodies to touch palms, and move those arms together, to the left, to the right, to the left, then centered between you again. Ready?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jay answered, both suddenly embarrassed by the teacher’s presence and grateful for it.</p><p>“Let’s run through the first few steps, then, and we’ll build upon it as you get comfortable.”</p><p>A smirk ticked at Audrey’s mouth, and Jay very purposefully didn’t snort, and they began.</p><p>Over the next half-hour Sayida Nya showed them the whole dance, but they still weren’t relaxed into it – there were too many moments of subtle sultriness for that – when the ballroom door eased open and Aziz stuck his head in. Though he was glad to see his brother, Jay and Audrey kept moving together across the dance floor as Aziz said, “Sayida Nya! I heard you were here teaching another princeling how to dance. Do you mind if I come in?”</p><p>“Your highness.” Jay glanced at Aziz in mortification even as Sayida Nya, not noticing, happily agreed, “Of course!”</p><p>So, Aziz came in… with a freckled redhead holding his hand as she followed him in, and the door closed behind them.</p><p>Audrey’s eyes blew wide as she caught sight of the other girl, and she stumbled a step.</p><p>Jay held her steady, reminding her under his breath, “The prince’s girlfriend has every right to be here.”</p><p>“Oh, I know that,” Audrey replied, and at the strange inflection in her tone, Jay raised a curious eyebrow. “You don’t recognize the girl from school?” she asked.</p><p>Jay glanced at the redhead again, making sure before he answered, “Kristen Bjorgman, right?”</p><p>“Heir to the throne of Arendelle,” Audrey confirmed quietly, before adding, “And fiancée to Aziz Ababwa.”</p><p>It was Jay’s turn to stumble in surprise as they danced.</p><p>“Your highnesses,” Sayida Nya stepped closer. “Are you alright?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jay assured her. “Just a little… shocked – and miffed.”</p><p>“At what?” Sayida Nya asked in confusion.</p><p>“Can we please take a break, sayida?” Jay requested instead of answering.</p><p>“We can take a five-minute break, if you wish.”</p><p>Jay automatically stepped back from Audrey – for a minute, he’d forgotten to feel awkward about holding her – and started towards Aziz and Kristen with her hand still in his.</p><p>“Oh, thank Allah,” Aziz teased with a grin. “You stopped dancing.”</p><p>Jay rolled his eyes, not giving his brother the satisfaction of thinking that he might have actually been dancing that badly. “I wouldn’t have stumbled if <em>Audrey </em>hadn’t told me something you haven’t yet,” he volleyed back.</p><p>“Oops,” Audrey murmured… and so did Aziz.</p><p>Jay was immediately gratified to see Kristen raise her eyebrows at Aziz in disbelief. Seeing the nerves and awkwardness flare across Aziz’s face was retribution enough for Jay, and he attempted to rescue his little brother by asking, “Your Kristen Bjorgman? I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Jay.” He stuck his hand out, and decided he liked this girl when she shook it firmly.</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you, Jay Ababwa,” Kristen replied with a smile that was a mirror-image of her queen mother’s. “Aziz has told me a lot about you.”</p><p>“All good things, I hope?” he said, trying to play the comment off as lighthearted even when it was only partially so.</p><p>“Of course,” she assured him.</p><p>Jay shot Aziz another teasing look as he said, “Well, I wish I could say the same for you – not that he’s told me good things, but that he’d told me anything.”</p><p>“Some people are just too perfect for words,” Aziz declared, making Kristen scoff.</p><p>“Speaking of perfect,” Audrey asked, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. “What was so bad about mine and Jay’s dancing? I thought we were doing pretty well, technically speaking.”</p><p>“<em>Technically, </em>yes, you were, from what little I saw,” Aziz agreed. “But you both looked uncomfortable, and stiff.”</p><p>“Because you could do it so much better?” Jay teased – and instantly regretted it when he saw Aziz’s lips thin, saw ire flash through his eyes. Jay opened his mouth to apologize, but Aziz’s expression had already changed, smoothed out in a way that let Jay know the apology was already understood and accepted.</p><p><em>Of course Aziz could do the dance “so much better;” he </em>had been <em>the one doing the rain dance the past couple years. And now Jay was taking his place…</em></p><p>
  <em>…In so many ways.</em>
</p><p>It seemed stupid – and horrifyingly selfish – that for all he’d thought about since meeting his mom, this was the first time Jay had been hit by what his presence meant for Aziz. For the boy who’d been raised to be sultan, and now wouldn’t be.</p><p>Yet Jay barely had time to glance at Audrey – <em>would she be able to help him here somehow?</em> – before Aziz was checking mildly, “You were doing the rain dance, right?” Jay nodded, and Aziz turned to Sayida Nya, asking, “Do you mind if I walk them through how I perform the dance?”</p><p>“Of course not, your highness.”</p><p>“Great.” Aziz’s infectious smile was back as he clapped his hands the same way Jay had noticed Sayida Nya did.</p><p>The teacher’s expression was rebuking as she caught Aziz’s kindhearted mockery, but her eyes were glittering with mirth, and Jay suddenly saw a teacher who was fond of the student she’d watched grow up. <em>Something else he would never have here.</em></p><p>“Now,” Aziz continued, taking Kristen’s hands. “We all know the dance starts with holding hands, heads bent together, very much in each other’s space. This is where, as I’m sure Sayida Nya mentioned, it’s a good idea to take a breath. However, in practice, I prefer to take that breath right before Kristen and I come together. That way, I’m not breathing in her air or blowing <em>my </em>air in her face.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Which is appreciated,” Kristen commented, seamlessly taking up where Aziz had left off as they leaned towards each other, assuming the beginning stance of the dance. “So, we’ve just come together, the dance is about to start, but Aziz has a bad habit. He holds his breath and tenses. And—he’s just… <em>right </em>there, so close, so tense, so I’ve developed my own habit.” She grinned softly at Aziz, their adoration for each other and comfort level with one another on full display – <em>and maybe that was also something it was good for their subjects to see. </em>“I squeeze his hands, try in that way to get his focus off the crowd that’s watching, and when I’m sure I’m the one he’s looking at, I just give him a little kiss. Just a peck.” Which she did, and Aziz grinned. Kristen’s grin widened as she continued, “And he does that – smiles and relaxes.”</p><p>They leaned away from one another as Aziz took up where Kristen stopped. “She’s saying it’s good to focus on each other and on your movements even though you’re in front of everyone, and she’s right, but something cool that I’ve noticed – at least out of my periphery – is the reaction of the crowd. They smile, too. It’s a small moment, but it’s a moment of simple, genuine solidarity between a couple, and, as the rain dance is in part meant to, it inspires confidence in and… fondness for the royal couple.” He turned to Kristen, asking suddenly, “Why did we get sidetracked by that?”</p><p>Kristen shrugged, answering cheekily, “Because you like it so much.”</p><p>“It’s true.” Aziz stole a kiss from her. “I do. But, on to the dance.” He gestured for Jay and Audrey to pair up as he did the same with Kristen again and Sayida Nya obligingly restarted the music. “One, two, three, and swing out. One, two, three, and…”</p><p>The two duos made it through the dance routine well, but Jay couldn’t help noticing how much more smoothly Aziz and Kristen moved together, how they were still having fun with it – having fun together.</p><p><em>Having fun and enjoying it so much </em>because <em>they were together?</em></p><p>Watching Aziz and Kristen together shone a light in Jay’s mind on how stilted his and Audrey’s interactions suddenly seemed. His worry was only confirmed when, at the end of the routine, he asked, “How did we do that time?”</p><p>“Technically, you’re doing extraordinarily well,” Sayida Nya said carefully, but she left further comments to the other teenagers, knowing they would answer.</p><p>“Jay, you need a kiss,” Kristen declared flatly.</p><p>Aziz snorted as Jay turned to her, alarmed, and asked, “Huh?”</p><p>Aziz started clapping in time with his words again as he explained, “You. Need. To. Relax. This is a rain dance, right? So, think of the rain: soft, gentle rain… It just kind of flows, languid, and – you know – relaxed.”</p><p>“Go through it again?” Sayida Nya requested.</p><p>Aziz nodded, and the four teens moved back to the beginning stance.</p><p>“Relax,” Audrey whispered, softly enough that only Jay could hear.</p><p>He knew helplessness flashed across his face, and he hated it. He hated that this class that he’d enjoyed at first was also where he could feel the overwhelmingness creeping back it. He hated that he was stealing something from his brother that Aziz clearly enjoyed, clearly did better than Jay. And now he was worrying that he wasn’t interacting convincingly enough with Audrey – Audrey who was beautiful and smart and desperate, and <em>she </em>needed him to do well just like Lone Keep did.</p><p>Audrey squeezed his hands sharply, and when Jay refocused his gaze on her, she was watching him with concern. “We’ve got this,” she promised as the first beat of music reached them. On the second beat, she suddenly kissed him, just as long as the second note lasted, and leaned away with a teasing smile. “Let’s have fun with it.”</p><p>Then the third beat ended, and they moved away from one another as Jay’s head spun a little, his brain catching up late with what she’d done.</p><p>Now distracted with new thoughts of <em>why did she kiss him</em>, Jay forgot to worry about everything else. He found himself smiling, soft and idiotic, at Audrey, <em>knowing </em>he was being taken in by what he was pretty sure was her purposefully glittering gaze, and for now he didn’t even care. He’d always thought she was beautiful, and with one kiss he decided that, for the time being, he could allow himself to really buy into the lie that she was yet again doing a great job of projecting for their audience.</p><p>
  <em>Besides, what was the harm if that’s what it took for him to relax into the sensuality of this dance like they kept telling him to?</em>
</p><p>It was like he and Audrey had flipped a switch. She was suddenly smiling at him so brightly that it was easy for Jay to forget it was a lie, and the way he moved around her – with her – became far surer. He lost himself in the music, in the movement, in the joy shining on her face.</p><p>It was a perfect moment when they just stopped caring and worrying and had fun with it.</p><p>As the music tapered down, and Audrey spun on her heel, whirling into Jay’s waiting arms, she laughed, real and glittering and proud of the fact that she <em>knew </em>they’d finally gotten it.</p><p>And with a kiss and a laugh, Jay fell for her so hard he almost physically felt it happen.</p><p>Unlike the other times they’d run through the dance, they didn’t immediately step away from one another, and Audrey stayed, still giggling giddily, in Jay’s arms as he pressed a spontaneous kiss to her temple and murmured, “Good job.”</p><p><em>Too much, too close, too real </em>– he saw her thoughts flash across her face, and Audrey stepped quickly back before Jay could even decide what he wanted to do about it. “You, too,” she replied, the smile that had been so bright falling almost entirely from her face.</p><p><em>He could tell when she was faking her smile, </em>Jay noted as Aziz and Kristen approached them.</p><p>Aziz was clapping as he declared, “That’s what we were talking about! <em>That’s </em>relaxing and having fun with it. Good job, you two.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Jay replied with a nod and a smirk that was filled with false confidence.</p><p>“Though I have to ask…” Kristen began slowly, an amused smile growing on her face. “Was that your first kiss?”</p><p>“What?” Jay asked. “Like, ever? No, of course not.”</p><p>“But to each other,” Audrey admitted. “Yeah.”</p><p>Worry flashed momentarily through Kristen’s eyes as she began, “You know I wasn’t trying to <em>tell you</em> that you <em>had </em>to—”</p><p>“Oh, I know,” Audrey effortlessly waved away her concern before shooting a smirk in Jay’s direction as she said, “But clearly it was a good idea, and I don’t think either of us mind.” She arched an expectant eyebrow at Jay, her expression saying she didn’t have a care in the world even though Jay <em>knew </em>better. “Right?”</p><p>He wrapped an arm around her waist, replying easily, “Of course not.”</p><p>“Well, now that we have settled all of that,” Sayida Nya said dryly, shooing them all towards the ballroom door. “Dance class is over. I will see you, Prince Javan, tomorrow.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They left Sayida Nya to pick up her things when she assured them she could show herself out, and the two “couples” began to go separate directions.</p><p>Under her breath but already stubbornly, Audrey said suddenly, “Talk to Aziz.”</p><p>“About what?” Jay asked, purposefully playing dumb.</p><p>She grabbed his wrist and yanked him to a stop in the middle of the entryway, glaring harshly at him. “You’re not stupid; don’t act it. Aziz was raised like I was, to anticipate sitting on a throne. Like me, that expectation has been taken away from him. By you.” The sharpness in her gaze dulled for a moment as she admitted, “Not intentionally, I know that, and so does Aziz.” She sighed, and whatever anger she’d felt – at him, at the situation, at <em>her </em>situation – left her for the time being as she continued, honest and grave, “But if my part of our deal is to help you figure out this royalty gig… here’s my experience as a royal. Unless you want to be to <em>your brother </em>something awfully close to what <em>Mal</em> is to <em>me</em>, go talk to Aziz. Soon.” She let go of his wrist, only to shove him down the hallway Aziz and Kristen had started down.  “By which I mean ‘now.’ Go now.”</p><p>She was right. Audrey was right, and Jay hated it, and it scared him, but that didn’t change the fact that she was right.</p><p>“If I go talk to him now,” Jay said before he even realized he was going to. “Will you come with me?”</p><p>They both started as they looked wide-eyed at one another, neither one of them sure what he expected her presence to do for the situation even though he had asked for it.</p><p>Still, after a second, she shrugged and purposefully – <em>falsely? </em>– relaxed. “Sure. Somebody has to pry the lovebirds apart so you can talk to Aziz, right?”</p><p>Jay smiled carefully. “Thanks.”</p><p>Audrey nodded, and as they walked down the hall, she began to put her hand on his arm, a gesture they’d both gotten used to over their past days together. But she froze for a second, glancing uncertainly at his face before she withdrew her hand and began to fiddle with her bracelet instead.</p><p>Jay’s heart dropped, but he didn’t comment. If the kiss really had been too much in her mind, if it took them into territory that she didn’t want – territory that was a little too real to be part of a ruse – than he wouldn’t push the issue.</p><p>Jay and Audrey found Aziz and Kristen sitting in the family room as they’d expected to, and Audrey sat down at the chessboard in the corner of the room, asking, “Kristen, do you know how to play?”</p><p>“I do,” Kristen said, rising almost instantly from her seat to sit across from Audrey instead as she realized what was going on. “Shall we?”</p><p>Audrey chuckled to herself at Kristen’s grandiose, replying haughtily, “We shall.” She gave Jay and Aziz a little wave and a smile, saying pointedly, “You boys have fun.”</p><p>Aziz looked at Jay, asking curiously, “Is everything okay? Something on your mind?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jay shrugged off the question. “Everything’s fine, I just…” he faltered, not at all sure how to start the conversation before he asked spontaneously, “Where’s your favorite place to watch a sunset here?”</p><p>Aziz ticked up an eyebrow. “The sunset? It’s not even dinnertime yet.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know,” Jay answered awkwardly. “It just seems to be the thing that people want to show me, so I wondered what yours is.”</p><p>Aziz inhaled softly as he stood from the couch, agreeing hesitantly, “Okay. We have another hour before dinner; that’s plenty of time to show you.” He moved to press a kiss to Kristen’s temple, murmuring, “We’ll be back soon,” before he gestured for Jay to follow him.</p><p>“Take as much time as you need,” Kristen replied casually, and both girls turned their attention to the chessboard as Aziz and Jay walked out.</p><p>“Where did Mom take you to see the sunset?” Aziz asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he led Jay down the hall.</p><p>“Just to the tree in the backyard.”</p><p>“And Dad?” Aziz continued to make small talk as he turned down the hall where the family’s bedrooms were.</p><p>“To this old, abandoned building in the bazaar where he said he used to live, actually.”</p><p>Aziz nodded, smiling thinly as he opened his bedroom door. “I know the place. My favorite place to watch the sunset is nothing so… important to who I am. However,” he shut the two of them into his bedroom alone, pointing at Jay as he continued, “I would appreciate it if you don’t tell Mom I do this. I don’t <em>know </em>that she would dislike it, but I don’t know that she’d be okay with it, either.”</p><p>“How mysterious,” Jay hummed before asking, “What about Dad?”</p><p>Aziz’s eyebrow twitched, his one concession to what Jay hoped was only surprise, before he waved away the question. “I highly doubt Dad would care. But I don’t think Dad’s noticed, either so… maybe don’t tell him, either?”</p><p>Jay smirked in amusement as Aziz moved to his bedroom window and shoved aside the sheer curtains that had been swaying gently in the breeze coming in. He sat on the window ledge, and Jay was confused as to why it was a big deal when they were still on the first floor; then Aziz kicked off his shoes and leaned out the window. Just as quickly, Jay’s little brother was gone, scaling his way up the back wall of the palace. Jay grinned, poking his head out the open window as Aziz asked from halfway up the wall, “Are you coming or what?”</p><p><em>He was part of a family of monkeys, </em>Jay decided dryly, but he didn’t need further encouragement to mimic Aziz, kicking off his shoes and clutching the window ledge with his fingertips to hoist himself up. Climbing this brick felt a lot more perilous than climbing the crumbling building in the bazaar; there had been obvious footholds there, but here Jay found himself tracking where Aziz put his feet so that he could mirror him.</p><p>Still, they made it up to the rooftop that covered the family’s wing of the palace, and Aziz gave him a hand up the last step so that the boys were soon sitting side by side on the painted and only-slightly-discolored white stucco.</p><p><em>The rooftop was on the second floor, </em>Jay noted, glancing around, and then: “Aziz,” he said flatly.</p><p>“Yes?” Aziz asked innocently, a smile already curling at the edges of his mouth.</p><p>“There is a window that goes directly onto this ledge <em>right there</em>,” Jay declared, pointing back at the window in question.</p><p>“So there is,” Aziz agreed, their mother’s smile still on his face as he explained, “But that’s one of the boarded-up rooms, and that makes it a little bit of a pain to get to. Besides, I like the climb.”</p><p>Jay blinked, muttering, “All three of you are monkeys. Mom climbs trees, and you and Dad scale buildings. You’re monkeys.”</p><p>“You’ve come with us every time, though,” Aziz pointed out, knocking his shoulder against Jay’s with a smirk before he sighed and sobered, pointing out, “I’ve gotten the feeling that every time someone wanted to show you the sunset it was also because they wanted to talk to you about something. So,” he drew himself up a little straighter, watched Jay out of the corner of his eye as he asked expectantly, “What did you want to talk about?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay licked his lips, unsure what to say, how to start the conversation, how to phrase even a question, despite knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about. After a moment of looking down at his lap, thinking, he finally inadequately said the main thing that was on his mind: “I don’t want to hurt you, you know.”</p><p>Aziz raised his eyebrows again, apparently surprised that Jay had taken that route to get to the conversation they’d both known was coming. “I do know that,” he said simply. “I do. And I don’t… blame you, or anything. It’s nobody’s fault that Jafar hid you from us.” He hesitated, “Except for maybe my grandfather’s fault, too, since he helped with the deception, but, in any case, it’s still not <em>your </em>fault, nor will it ever be, so, yeah, I’m not mad at you.”</p><p>“But you’re not happy, either, are you?” Jay asked. “And I’m… really, really sorry that it took me this long to notice.”</p><p>Aziz looked away, out to the bustling city below them. “I am happy that you’re here, Jay. It’s like… Okay, I grew up knowing that my parents had lost a baby, but not much else, just that there was this… hole. There was this space in their hearts and minds where they felt they should’ve had and been raising a second son, and maybe I got it from them, but I eventually realized that I felt like I should have a brother. And now you’re here, and my parents are happier, the holes are filled, and I have my brother. I <em>am happy </em>that you are here.” Aziz clenched his hands, cracking his knuckles as he continued, “But that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been… adjustments, right? Growing pains, maybe? Changes in routine and expectations and…” he shook his head, his eyes widening for a second. “And my plan for my life. I’m not going to lie. It’s been hard, really hard sometimes, but Mom and Dad, Delia, Genie, Jordan, Ahmed… everyone’s been there, and if I need to talk, they’ve listened. They’ve helped.</p><p>“Honestly, though? The trip to Arendelle was only partially to bring Kristen here so that you could meet her. It was mostly for me to be able to step away, get my head <em>really </em>screwed on straight, and get a new plan in place for my life, and for the life I anticipate sharing with Kristen. So, that’s what I did in Arendelle. I talk to Kristen all the time over the phone and stuff, but I had reached the point where I really needed to sit down with her, have her there beside me, and reassess with her. So, that’s what we did, and when we came back here today, while you were in dance class, Kristen and I were talking to Mom and Dad – having a <em>conversation </em>about where I want to go from here – and I feel a lot better, honestly, a lot more… settled. It’s still a process, I’m still adjusting to the idea of it all, but I do feel better just having a plan in place again.”</p><p><em>Royals loved to make plans</em>, Jay had quickly been realizing, so he wasn’t all that surprised by what Aziz said. “That’s good, then,” he said before asking, “What are your plans now, then, if you don’t mind me asking?”</p><p>“No, of course you can ask,” Aziz replied. “Before, when I was going to be sultan, there was – kind of ironically, I guess – no point in me going to college. I could learn everything I needed to learn by being directly under the tutelage of Mom and Dad. Now, I’m free to go to college after I graduate, if I want to… and I think I do want to. While I was in Arendelle, I pre-applied to Arendelle University, which is their state university. They have a condensed three-year bachelor’s program that I’d like to go through, either majoring in politics, communications, or Arendellean history. What that would mean is that I graduate Auradon Prep at eighteen, and graduate from AU at twenty-one, which, coincidentally, gives Kristen and I just enough time to plan our wedding, get married, and have a few months to settle into marriage before she takes the throne on her twenty-first birthday.”</p><p>“Wait,” Jay realized something that felt strangely incomprehensible to him, and he turned to Aziz with growing horror on his face. “You’re planning on living in Arendelle?”</p><p>He saw Aziz swallow a sigh. “As king consort, yeah. Which… on a practical level makes our lives a lot easier in the future.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Because, originally, Kristen and I <em>both </em>had a throne and a kingdom to look after. Originally, we were planning on, when the time came, spending half the year based in Arendelle and half the year based in Agrabah, which would’ve been hard, but, I dunno,” Aziz smiled lopsidedly at him even though his eyes were still a little stormy. “Love conquers all, right? We could’ve done it, but it wouldn’t have been ideal. Now, we don’t have to… worry about Lone Keep because you’re here to rule instead.”</p><p>“Not gonna lie,” Jay said carefully, “But I feel like you’re still going to worry about Lone Keep even if you never rule here.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Aziz said with a careful nod. “I will, but not as much because of you as you think. Lone Keep will <em>always </em>be my home, but I can see Arendelle becoming my home, too – kind of easily, actually. And then I have two homes, and how great does that sound?”</p><p>The two brothers lapsed into silence for a minute, just watching the town beneath them as they thought through what had been said. Carefully, Jay checked, “But you and I, you’re sure we’re okay?”</p><p>Aziz gave him another smile, slung an arm around Jay’s shoulders. “Of course. I know none of this is your fault, so why would I hold it against you? Besides, Jay, you’re my <em>brother</em>, and I get that we’re still trying to figure out what that means, but I know that whatever it means, it’s something important. So, yeah, we’re okay.”</p><p>“And you?” Jay asked again, putting an arm around Aziz’s shoulders in return. “Are you sure <em>you’re </em>okay?”</p><p>Aziz looked him in the eye then as he admitted, “I’m working on it, but, yeah, I’m alright.”</p><p>Jay worried at the inside of his cheek for a second before he asked, “If I can ever help you somehow, let me know, okay?” He grinned, making light of it, but not joking as much as he let on when he added, “I’m, uh, pretty sure that’s supposed to be part of this brother thing.”</p><p>“I will if you will,” Aziz replied.</p><p>“It’s a deal.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After dinner that evening, they all settled into the sitting room, Aladdin and Jasmine with ever-present paperwork, Aziz with his laptop, Jay with the book on the Forty Thieves that he had almost finished, and Audrey and Kristen finishing their chess game from earlier.</p><p>“Checkmate,” Kristen said after a few minutes in silence, but Jay didn’t really pay attention, too absorbed in the tales of Cassim, the King of Thieves – a man that, if Jay remembered correctly, had died on the Isle a couple years ago.</p><p>“Are you free now?” Aziz asked Kristen distractedly from the settee.</p><p>“M-hm.”</p><p>“Can you come here?” Aziz asked without looking up from his laptop. “I want your opinion on these majors. Which one do you think would be most helpful to me in Arendelle?”</p><p>“You know,” Kristen murmured, and Jay could hear the softness, the smile, in her voice even though he never looked up from his book. “You don’t have to have everything figured out immediately. You still have a whole year and then some before you’d start college.”</p><p>“I know…”</p><p>Jay still heard the whisper of Kristen’s green sari as she settled onto the settee, but it was an unexpected grunt from Aziz that tore Jay’s eyes away from the horseback chase happening in the pages of his book. Kristen had moved Aziz’s laptop and curled onto his lap before starting to read whatever Aziz was so focused on. Jay rolled his eyes and went back to his book with a fond smile. <em>Lovebirds… He would ne—</em></p><p>Audrey suddenly sat down on the floor beside him, moving his arm so that it was around her as she put her head on his shoulder. Not as close as Kristen and Aziz, but almost, and he only barely refrained from jerking away on sheer instinct at the unexpected contact.</p><p><em>Huh</em>. He adjusted his hold on her and on the book as they got comfortable, trying not to let his surprise show, trying not to see the look that flashed through Aladdin’s eyes. <em>This was new. Having Aziz and Kristen around really had given them a comparison for how they needed to up their game, though, </em>he knew, so he pressed a distracted sort of kiss to Audrey’s hair as he continued reading.</p><p>“I thought you said you weren’t a reader,” Audrey murmured.</p><p>“Usually I’m not, but these stories are interesting.”</p><p>She adjusted just enough to peer at the words on the page. “What book is it?”</p><p>“It’s called <em>King of Thieves</em>; it’s a kind of biographical dramatic retelling of the life of the leader of the Forty Thieves.”</p><p>“As in the legend of the Forty Thieves? Those guys?”</p><p>Jay nodded, trying to tell himself that he was still more interested in the book than in the beautiful girl cuddling up to him – <em>which she was doing for effect</em>, he reminded himself.</p><p>“I’ve heard of that book,” Aladdin hummed from the other side of the room. “Did you come across anything interesting in it yet?”</p><p>“Mm… not… exactly,” Jay decided, unsure why Aladdin was asking, or what he would call “interesting.” “Right now, the guy, Cassim, is in the middle of a horseback chase with the palace guards.”</p><p>“Over the stolen goblet, or the gate keys?” Aladdin asked.</p><p>“Stolen goblet. What gate keys does he steal?”</p><p>“Never mind that,” Aladdin waved off the question. “Spoiler alert, that must be later in the book. For now, let me know if you find anything interesting about when he makes it home.”</p><p>Jay blinked at Aladdin in confusion, replying, “Okay…” before he turned back to the book, and, as Aladdin had predicted, the chase scene ended and Cassim left the stolen horse tied in front of a stable while he snuck back into the shadows and made his way home. For the moment, the interesting part of Jay’s read was over as Cassim opened the door, was bathed in stifling firelight from his fireplace, and given a kiss by his wife.</p><p>Jay found himself a little disappointed by the sudden, boring domesticity of the story as the wife, Zena, that he hadn’t expected to exist laughed when she was pushed away from her husband – <em>really, Cassim had a whole family? </em>– by their toddler son, Al.</p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cassim.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aziz Ali Cassim Ababwa. After Aladdin’s father, Cassim…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The toddler, Al. Aladdin.</em>
</p><p>Audrey squeaked when Jay suddenly surged to his feet and darted down the hall.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Aladdin called after him.</p><p>“Bedroom. To get another book.”</p><p>He grabbed the genealogy book from his bedside table, opening it to the family tree that Audrey had shown him as he made his way back into the family room.</p><p>
  <em>No way!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cassim… Zena… Aladdin.</em>
</p><p><em>Cassim, the King of Thieves, Zena, his wife, and their son, </em>Al<em>addin…</em></p><p>Jay sat heavily back down beside a confused Audrey, pointing silently to the corresponding names in the two books.</p><p>She leaned in to read what he was focused on, her curly hair tickling his cheek. “Huh,” she said carefully.</p><p>“’<em>Huh</em>?’” Jay repeated incredulously. <em>His stepfather was a VK, the son of a man who’d been banished to the Isle. That deserved more than a ‘huh!’ There was already a VK sitting on a throne, and that was a huge deal!</em></p><p>Quietly, Aladdin asked again, “Did something catch your eye?”</p><p>Jay didn’t answer Aladdin yet as a new thought occurred to him and he asked Audrey worriedly, “Is that not a known thing? Should I not have shown you that?”</p><p>Audrey hummed thoughtfully, taking the genealogy book, and setting it aside. She curled back up in his arms, meeting his gaze frankly as she answered, “I think this is one of those things that I already knew about because I studied at a national level. Most royals in our generation study their own state’s history and eventually the history of the state they marry into. So, I know, the Florians know, as do the Ababwas and Bjorgmans. Is <em>this</em>—” she tapped Cassim’s name in the storybook. “—Well-known? No, I don’t think so. But it’s not hidden, either; I mean, it’s sitting right here in a YA adventure book. I don’t think the populace of Lone Keep necessarily knows, but I don’t think they’d care, either.”</p><p>“You don’t think they’d rebel against a VK on the throne?” Jay asked quietly, not quite looking at her as he voiced a recurring worry.</p><p>“If I did,” Audrey answered just as softly. “I wouldn’t be here. <em>Clearly </em>VKs can make good sultans. Lone Keep is <em>thriving </em>under Aladdin and Jasmine.” She hesitated before laying a hand on his arm, making sure she had his attention before she added, “And, for the record, something tells me that prosperity is going to continue under the next sultan.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay grinned, saying for Aziz’s and Kristen’s benefit, “I could kiss you for that.”</p><p>He wasn’t expecting the immediate reply, “Then why don’t you?”</p><p><em>What was he supposed to say to that? He’d expected some of her demure crap about being in front of his parents, and now… </em>Jay shrugged, pretending it didn’t throw him off in the least as he cupped her cheek and kissed her for the second time that day.</p><p>That was when Aladdin moved to sit on Jay’s other side, clearing his throat as he asked, “So, it sounds like you found something?”</p><p>Jay was grateful for the purposeful interruption, for an excuse to keep from getting lost in the kiss, in Audrey, in his increasingly tangled emotions. “Yes,” he blurted, disentangling himself from Audrey, picking up his books, and scrambling onto his feet. “Can we go for a walk?” he asked impulsively.</p><p>“I would love to,” Aladdin replied, getting up and leading the way out of the family room. When they were out of hearing range of the others, Aladdin fell back into step with Jay, asking, “What’d you find in that book that was so interesting?”</p><p>“Your dad was the King of Thieves, the leader of the Forty Thieves.”</p><p>Aladdin shoved his hands into his pockets as he nodded. “Cassim. Yes, he is.”</p><p>“That makes you a VK.”</p><p>“Does it?” Aladdin asked cautiously. “I was just going with the… the light-hearted notion of being a ‘prince’ of thieves. Is there a difference between that and a VK?”</p><p>Jay shrugged. “I dunno. VKs are just the kids – the <em>offspring </em>– of people who were banished to the Isle.”</p><p>There was a pause in Aladdin’s step, just barely, before he resumed his nonchalant gait. “Cassim is on the Isle?” he asked quietly. “I was never sure.” Jay froze, horrified, and Aladdin turned to him, quickly reassuring, “It’s okay. I haven’t talked to my dad in over twenty-two years, and I’m not… naïve to his crimes. If he’s on the Isle, that’s… it’s difficult, but it’s okay. I understand why he’s there.”</p><p>Jay found that he genuinely couldn’t think. He thought he was doing pretty good to keep breathing, actually, as he said quietly, “Aladdin.”</p><p>Aladdin’s expression changed as realization and then resignation settled across his face. “Oh,” he said softly, asking carefully, “<em>Is </em>he still on the Isle?”</p><p>Jay shook his head. “He just… got old. A couple years ago. Nothing dramatic happened, but there’s not any reliable medical care on the Isle, so he just got sick, and…” Jay shrugged uncomfortably, and trailed off.</p><p>Aladdin drew in a breath and released it slowly. “Got it. Thank you for telling me.”</p><p>“Of course,” Jay answered, not sure what else to say.</p><p>Then Aladdin saved them both, sort of, when he cleared his throat to clear the air and asked, “So, ah… the Audrey thing.” He pinned Jay with an assessing look. “Real or ruse?”</p><p>Jay’s first instinct was confusion, and he instantly replied, “Ruse.” A second later, suspicion crept in, and he added against his better judgement, “I told you and Mom that recently, so why are you asking?”</p><p>“Just checking,” Aladdin replied vaguely.</p><p>Jay was afraid to continue <em>that </em>conversation and dig himself deeper, afraid to give his parents <em>more </em>to be suspicious of, so he stayed quiet.</p><p>“But that’s not what you wanted to talk about, obviously,” Aladdin continued. Then he asked, “Why does it startle you so much that I’m… the ‘prince of thieves,’ Cassim’s son, a VK… all of those things? Is that much different from being a former thief and street rat, which everyone knows I am?”</p><p>They hadn’t started walking again, so Jay leaned back against the wall instead, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought. “It’s… closer,” he finally admitted, running the toe of his boot through the plush carpet at his feet. “To me. To what I am.”</p><p>“And that’s a big deal.”</p><p>It wasn’t exactly a question, but Jay nodded anyway. “Because, as a reformed thief and, technically, a VK, you’re still sultan, you’re still running Lone Keep, and you’re doing it well. So, if you can, maybe I really can too, one day.”</p><p>Aladdin mimicked Jay’s stance, sighing softly. “Okay. First off, I’m going to say again, you’re not taking sultanship until Jasmine’s hair is white and mine is gone, leaving me entirely bald and depressingly hunched over.” Jay scoffed at the strange imagery as Aladdin continued, “Second of all: in the meantime, you’re going to finish growing up. You’re going to learn <em>so </em>much more, from books, from your family, from your <em>people</em>. Eventually, you’re going to get married, have kids,” Aladdin rolled his eyes as he muttered the addition, “And learn from them, too. The Jay – the ‘Prince Javan’ – that takes the throne is going to feel like a world away from the kid in front of me now – as long as I do my job right.”</p><p>Jay looked at him in surprise as he repeated, “Your job? I’m not your job.”</p><p>“You are and you aren’t,” Aladdin replied, rocking on his heels. “You’re not my <em>job</em>, but you are my responsibility, as much as Aziz is, in my mind. One that I happily chose to take on, by the way. Which means helping you finish this ‘growing up’ messiness is my responsibility, like it is your mom’s.”</p><p>Jay blinked. He’d known on some level that Aladdin thought all of that, but it was something else entirely to hear him say it. “You… think of me like you do… Aziz?” The traitorous, nervous part of his brain felt like he was making a leap that Aladdin wouldn’t welcome; the logical part of his mind said he was only rephrasing what Aladdin had just said.</p><p>“I do,” Aladdin replied gently. Their separate issues with each of their fathers – something that once again made them more alike than Jay had originally realized – hung between them as Aladdin added, “If that’s okay?”</p><p>Jay nodded, not sure what else to say as he agreed. “It is.” He grinned. “It really, really is.”</p><p>Aladdin grinned, too, then. “Good. And while we’re on the topic of saying exactly what’s on our minds, I know it makes you nervous, and I <em>get it</em>, believe me, but I wouldn’t be telling you that you can grow into someone who’s capable of handling sultanship if I didn’t believe it. Jasmine <em>certainly </em>wouldn’t. All of us who are saying it, are saying it because we believe it, because we believe in <em>you</em>. So, even though it scares you, know that you’re going to grow into it, and take comfort in the fact that, in this house, you are surrounded by people who want to see you succeed, okay?”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“Okay,” Aladdin repeated, moving to sling an arm around Jay’s shoulders as he led them back towards the family room. “I’m glad we had this talk, kid.”</p><p>Jay chuckled, “Me, too, Dad.”</p><p>The arm around his shoulders squeezed in a there-and-gone hug before Aladdin ruffled his hair as they walked.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay had been laying down in his bed for all of five minutes when a near-silent knock sounded at his door. He squinted at the door, waiting for the noise to happen a second time, but it never did. Still, old nerves singing that he should always check his perimeter when he was unsure, he got up and cracked open the door.</p><p>Audrey was standing outside his bedroom door, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. “Can we talk?” she whispered so softly that the words were almost mouthed.</p><p><em>Maybe he should’ve expected this, </em>Jay realized, nodding as he stepped aside to let her into his bedroom. He moved around her to turn on the bedside lamp as he asked, “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I don’t know. Are we okay?” She turned the question back on him as she stood tensely in the middle of his room.</p><p><em>She</em>, he decided, <em>was very clearly not okay, and not in any way that could’ve been good. Better to play it cool and put her at ease, then. </em>“What?” he asked casually, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Because of the kissing earlier?” When she nodded, he shrugged, like the lying liar that he could be when he needed to be. And right now, that was clearly what Audrey needed him to be.</p><p>He had caught feelings for her, she clearly had not had a change of heart towards him, and right now she was the one who needed real protection, who needed to be taken care of. He was a flirt by nature; he could get over one sneaky infatuation with a princess.</p><p>“Look, don’t worry about it, okay? We’re supposed to be dating, so the kissing was for effect. At least that’s how I took it.” The tension in her shoulders was starting to ease, so he teased gently, “Besides, <em>you </em>were the one who kissed <em>me</em>, right?”</p><p>That did the trick as Audrey’s shoulders finally dropped and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, but like you said, only for effect.”</p><p>Jay shrugged again. “Then no harm, no foul?”</p><p>Audrey nodded.</p><p>“Still wanna keep up the ruse?” he checked.</p><p>“With Aziz and Kristen around, I’m pretty sure we have to,” she pointed out. “At least for the rest of the week, until we get back to Auradon and can talk to Grammy about my new princely boyfriend.”</p><p>“That’s the plan,” he agreed. “So, we’re good, then?”</p><p>“Yeah, we’re good.”</p><p>“Good. Is there… anything else?”</p><p>Audrey shook her head, backing towards the door. “No. I just… wanted to get that sorted out. Good night, Jay.”</p><p>“Good night, Audrey.”</p><p>She let herself out, and when the door had closed behind her, Jay fell onto his back on the bed, grabbing a pillow and groaning into it while he continued telling himself, <em>she was just one more flitting “good girl infatuation, and he could get over her.</em></p><p>But he could be a lying liar who lied even to himself, and he knew it.</p><hr/><p>The remaining days before their trip back to Auradon state passed in a whirlwind. Jay felt like he barely had time to take a deep breath in between lessons with Sayida Nya and accompanying his parents, Aziz, and even Kristen to oversee various royal responsibilities. He was busy – always – but he found that he didn’t hate it. Most of the time he didn’t even dislike it.</p><p>The family still had breakfast and supper together, still sat in the family room at the end of each evening, except now Jay was often drawn over to look at what one of his other family members was working on. He even snuck in a couple sessions of tourney practice with Aziz.</p><p>And there at his side for as much of it as she was allowed, exactly as she had promised, was Audrey.</p><p>There was attraction between them now, sudden, definite, and terrifying, and for the first time in his life, Jay felt like he was running scared from a girl.</p><p>It made their ruse so much easier and so much harder all at the same time. So much easier to hold her, to delight in her happiness, to <em>care </em>about her. And so much harder to keep up the barriers, the distance, in his mind and emotions to remind himself that this <em>was </em>still a ruse. That’s what she’d asked for – and she hadn’t indicated she wanted anything more – so that’s what he stuck to, no matter how much it ate away at him.</p><p>Because it was eating at him, despite his best efforts to… talk himself down.</p><p>He’d always known that Audrey was gorgeous, from the first time he’d met her, as she’d pointed out to his parents. Now, though, as they spent even more time together, as she advised and tutored him just as much as any member of his family, he was constantly surprised by her. He was surprised by her consideration, kindness, and compassion for Jasmine and Aladdin’s subjects. He was surprised by her effortless interactions with others – when she cared to put her best foot forward. She was compassionate and insightful, honest to a fault, and just a little manipulative.</p><p>Despite his best efforts, he was falling in love with Audrey’s mind and who she was as a person, not just as a beautiful body… and he was going to get himself in trouble if he wasn’t careful.</p><p>So, Jay started trying to tell himself that if he could just get through this meeting with Queen Leah and go his separate ways from Audrey, <em>then </em>he’d be okay. <em>Eventually, </em>he’d get over her.</p><hr/><p>The much-anticipated trip back to Auradon state was a far more complicated affair than the trip into Lone Keep had been.</p><p>Two days before Lone Keep’s royals were to make the trip, much to Jay’s worry, Audrey asked if she should expect to travel with the Ababwas, or make separate arrangements for the trip. Since she had asked, though they seemed quietly worried, Jasmine and Aladdin loaned Audrey their jet for a ride back to Fairy Cottage, and she left the same day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay sat in the guest room, having slipped away from his deportment class at the earliest opportunity, watching Audrey pack her few things with worried eyes. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he finally asked the question that was the whole reason he’d come in here.</p><p>“No,” she replied honestly. “But I do have to go home, unless I want my family to suspect that I haven’t been at the cottage in the first place.”</p><p>“And you’re sure your fairy godmothers won’t tell?”</p><p>Audrey nodded. “My phone’s going to blow up when I turn off ‘do not disturb,’ but as long as I get to the cottage tonight, my godmothers and I travel home tomorrow, then it’s on to Auradon the day after, the same as you.”</p><p>“And if you run into any issues at all with y—”</p><p>“Jay.” Audrey closed the satchel Jordan had loaned her then moved to crouch in front of him, cutting him off as she took his hands in hers. “As much as I love your protective streak, it is only two days apart, no one in my family even knows I was here, and I will be fine. I probably won’t like it, but I will be fine. Okay? Now, the pilot’s going to be waiting on me, so can you be a gentleman and a good boyfriend, and take me and my bag to the jet?”</p><p>He wanted to raise her hand to his lips and kiss it, he wanted to kiss <em>her</em>, just some sign of affection and support before she went on her own back to a situation he <em>knew </em>she was growing increasingly uncertain of, but he settled for holding her hand all the way to the jet. “I’ll see you back in Auradon,” he called as she walked up the steps into the jet.</p><p>“I’ll see you, then.”</p>
<hr/><p>The next day, Kristen borrowed the jet, taking her own, much shorter trip home with Aziz accompanying her in his own roundtrip just so that he could spend a little more time with her.</p><p><em>Lovebirds</em>, Jay thought fondly for the millionth time as he watched the jet take off, but this time the thought was laced with a jealousy that he was determined to ignore.</p><p>The day after that saw a small exodus from palace as Aladdin, Jasmine, Aziz, and Jay left in the jet for Auradon. Delia, Genie, and Jordan had flown in a public flight ahead of them, and Rafi, Ahmed, and Hamid were following directly behind them on a different public jet.</p><p>The jet that Jay and his family were travelling in was far quieter than a public flight, and it was an unanticipated reminder of the affluence that he had been recently thrust into. He suspected that he would’ve preferred the regular flight, with more going on to distract him from the days ahead of them, and from the nervous energy that was already building in his gut.</p><p>The whole cab of the jet had an air of buried tension in it. Aziz and Aladdin were talking in an almost-tense whisper on one side of the jet while Jay sat beside his mom in silence on the other side. Jasmine was scrolling through a document on her tablet while Jay found himself trying to decipher Aladdin and Aziz’s conversation despite himself.</p><p>Jasmine glanced over, tracking Jay’s line of sight before she murmured distractedly, “He’ll be okay.”</p><p>“What?” Jay asked, turning to her in confusion.</p><p>“Aziz,” Jasmine explained under her breath, confusion flashing through her own eyes for a second. “Some of his worries are… coming to the fore.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>Jasmine hesitated, clearly weighing whether she should say anything else. “He’s worried about how people will treat him once he’s known as the ‘spare,’ and not the ‘heir.’”</p><p>Jay winced, muttering, “I should’ve realized that.”</p><p>“You do,” Jasmine answered soothingly. “I’ve heard you two talk about it a couple times this week. We all just… have our own things on our minds right now.”</p><p>Jay nodded, releasing some of his own tension on a soft breath.</p><p>“Come here,” Jasmine murmured, putting an arm around his shoulders. He put his head on her shoulder, not caring that it put a strain on his neck, and felt his mother gently kiss the top of his head. “What about you? Are you ready for this?”</p><p>“Me?” Jay kept his tone light. “Yeah, sure. This is a major step up for me, right?” Before she could probe him further, he turned the question back on her. “What about you? Are <em>you</em> ready for this?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” she answered thoughtfully, scrolling listlessly on her tablet – <em>reviewing her speech</em>, Jay realized. “But I don’t know if it matters if I’m <em>ready </em>or not. The thoughts and conversations surrounding VKs are shifting, changing, and heating up, and I want to be a part of that. I know for a fact there’s a… a small group of people who need a shove in the right direction, if you will. People who are closer to the VK debate than they want to admit, and if I can encourage them, through this, to step up and speak up for the kids who can’t speak up for themselves? It’s time for me to do that. Whether or not I’m ready is irrelevant in the face of the bigger picture.”</p><p>Jay paused, thinking for a second before he shifted to hug her the same way she was hugging him. “I think,” he finally said quietly. “That you are the bravest mom I have ever met. And I’m <em>really glad </em>that you’re <em>my </em>mom.”</p><p>Jasmine hugged him a little tighter, her strength surprising Jay as much as it ever did as she replied, “And I’m really glad that you’re my son.”</p>
<hr/><p>They landed in Auradon late that night, and Ahmed met them at the entrance to Beast’s Castle, where they would be staying for the next few days. At first glance, Jay suddenly felt like he hadn’t spent nearly enough time away from this castle yet, and he was glad that Ahmed led him and Aziz directly to the room they would be sharing. At least the beds were as comfortable as Jay remembered… but he didn’t sleep well.</p><p>All too soon, Ahmed was back in the bedroom with Rafi at his side, one of them flipping on the lights while the other opened the curtains. Aziz was clearly more used to this brutal wake-up call, since he sat up, already trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes.</p><p>Jay rolled onto his stomach and put a pillow over his head, doing his best to block out the world and how nervous he was over the day’s impending events.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I have a present for you,” Rafi informed him, carefully cheerful. He tapped Jay’s hand with the bottom of a coffee cup, trying to coax him out of the safety of his blankets. “Tea from Lady Mal’s assistant, Jane. She knows only that this is your first event in connection with Lone Keep’s royal family, but I’ve given to understand that because of that, the tea’s a bit…” Rafi looked at him pointedly when Jay removed the pillow from over his head. “<em>Potent.</em>”</p><p>Shocked at Jane, Jay sat up, checking, “Alcohol?”</p><p>“Magic,” Rafi corrected, shoving the tea at Jay before he could lay back down. “To soothe your nerves while helping you wake up.” Rafi was more self-assured than Jay had ever seen him, in his element as he ordered, “Drink up. You’re in high demand today, and you’ve got to get ready.”</p><p>The next two hours passed in enough of a blur that Jay barely had time to think about all the ways that he <em>wasn’t </em>ready; he was just grateful for the way Jane’s tea had loosened the knots in his stomach, even for a little while.</p><p>By the time they were all splitting up to go to their spots on the castle lawn where his mom was going to give her speech, the nerves and knots in his stomach were back with a vengeance, though.</p><p>Rafi, Ahmed, and Hamid had melted into the crowd of Auradon’s royals that had come for the small, but clearly upper-crust event, Ben, Jasmine, Aladdin, and Aziz were all on the stage, and at the edge of the stage, out of sight but there if they were needed, were Genie, Delia, Jordan, and Jay. As Ben was introducing the sultana who needed no introduction, Jay distractedly noted the soft squelch of heels on the grass, and he reached behind him without looking when the soft scent of apple shampoo registered. Evie took his hand firmly, not saying a word as Jay moved to put an arm around her shoulders while they watched Jasmine take the podium.</p><p>“Thank you, King Benjamin, for the opportunity to speak, and thank you, fellow leaders of Auradon, for coming to listen to what I have to say.” Jasmine smiled, but as close as he was, Jay could see the tightness around the edges of the gesture as she joked, “For as much as I’m known for always having something to say, I promise I won’t take up much of your time this morning with a speech, because I want today to be more of a celebration, which is why there’s a brunch following this that I hope you’ll all stay for. But I’m sure you’re wondering what we’re celebrating… and I think I’ve decided that we’re celebrating the triumph of good over evil, the fact that every storm has it’s rainbow… and today we’re celebrating my personal rainbow.”</p><p>Jasmine swallowed, and Evie’s trembling hand tightened around Jay’s. “For anyone who cares to look in history books regarding my life, you might find a tale of mine and Aladdin’s miscarried baby. I’m here to set the record straight on that, to tell you that the baby was neither miscarried, nor Aladdin’s.” An expected murmur swept through the crowd, but Jasmine held up a hand and waited for silence before she continued with a brave tilt of her chin and a determined spark in her eye, “That baby that I carried was Jafar’s child, forced upon me while I was in chains during his moment of victory, in the story that I’m sure you’ve all heard.</p><p>“I carried that child in secret in the palace, but when I gave birth and the doctor whisked my son away, I was told that the baby had died. But he hadn’t died. In exchange for Jafar’s silence regarding,” Jasmine’s voice almost wavered, she almost paused, but she <em>didn’t</em>, and Jay’s heart somehow managed to swell and clench all at once. “What he had done to me, in the week before he was banished to the Isle, Jafar was given the baby to raise. When he was banished, the baby went with him. And all the while, the last person who had seen my son, the person who had struck the deal with Jafar, continued to assure me that the child was dead.</p><p>“But I suppose a mother knows. I never felt like my son was dead, and with the formation of the ILD I was able to investigate that hunch that he was alive.” Jasmine took a deep breath and beamed as she added, “And I was right. <em>That’s </em>what we’re here to celebrate today. I found my son, and I want to give you, my friends and fellow leaders, to have a chance to welcome him into your circles as one of our own.”</p><p>There were more footsteps behind Evie and Jay, familiar gaits that put him more at ease in the middle of his stress. Carlos went to Evie’s other side, taking her free hand as Mal offered Jay her arm with a twinkle in her eye and a proud smile on her face. When he stepped away from Evie to take Mal’s arm – something he had to do no matter what he wanted to do – Doug was instantly there to take his spot, and seeing the comforting way he held Evie soothed Jay’s hurt more than he’d expected it to.</p><p>“So,” Jasmine was continuing. “I would like to introduce you all to my elder son, Javan Ali Hassan Ababwa, crown prince of Lone Keep.”</p><p>Mal walked up the steps onto the stage with Jay, showing her support for him on a couple of levels as she delivered him to Jasmine and slipped to the back of the stage to sit beside Ben.</p><p>Jay found that he didn’t like being the center of attention in such a formal moment, but he wanted to support his mom as much as he wanted to be there for Evie, so when Jasmine opened her arms to him, he hugged her tightly right there in front of everyone.</p><p>The comfort of her hug helped him ignore the horrified gasps of recognition from a few of the royals watching the speech. There was applause, too, though, and more applause than displeasure, so Jay allowed himself to be encouraged and hoped it wasn’t naïve.</p><p>“I love you <em>so</em> much,” Jasmine whispered fiercely, a gesture in the middle of the crowd that was meant just for him.</p><p>“I love you, too, Mom.”</p><p>When they pulled away, mother and son stayed arm in arm as they faced the crowd again and Jasmine called, “Let’s celebrate!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By all appearances, they did begin to celebrate. The formal setting surrounding the stage broke up and moved into an area of the lawn where a garden party had been arranged. Aziz began to wander among his friends, looking as at-ease as ever with Kristen at his side, and Jay was glad to see it. After a while, he noticed that Evie, Carlos, and Doug were nowhere to be found, but, though he could make assumptions about why they had disappeared, he didn’t have time to investigate. Everyone wanted to talk to him, to get reacquainted with him, or to meet him for the first time. He could practically feel their judgements, and he realized immediately what he hadn’t quite been able to put into words before. This garden party was a different kind of assessment from his new peers, and that was why he’d been so nervous for it.</p><p>It made him beyond grateful to realize that so many of his real friends were keeping him within eyesight, or even hearing range – Jasmine and Aladdin, Ben and Mal, Delia, Genie, and Jordan, even Fairy Godmother and Jane… and Audrey.</p><p>Jay didn’t realize it was Audrey until about the third time he’d glanced over her in the crowd. She didn’t look like the same Audrey who had stayed at his home. That Audrey hadn’t had access to hair products, and her hair had been almost wildly curly most of the time, pulled back into easy-to-manage ponytails. He hadn’t noticed before now that she hadn’t even worn makeup while she was with them, but she was definitely wearing it now. Her hair had been straightened and braided over one shoulder with little blue and pink flowers woven in, and she was wearing a pale pink tea dress with a sheen to it that glittered blue when she turned and met his gaze. <em>This was how Audrey was supposed to look, </em>he realized, <em>every inch the pretty, pink, put-together princess. </em>He wondered how many of the people she was mingling with knew how smart she was, how pained and worried she could get behind her charming smile, shimmery dress, and perfect makeup.</p><p>He blinked, pulling himself out of his thoughts as it registered that she was making her way to him through the crowd. He turned, barely remembering to excuse himself from his conversation with the Duke of Wesselton before he met her halfway.</p><p>“Be careful with him,” Audrey said under her breath. “Everybody knows he’s a snake in the grass who’s got a death grip on his power.”</p><p>Jay smiled easily, far too aware of all the eyes on him as he replied quietly, “Oh, I could tell.”</p><p>Audrey smiled, giving him a quick once-over before she asked, “How are you?”</p><p>“Fine,” Jay replied, glancing around them.</p><p>“No,” she said flatly, still quiet enough that only he could hear. “You’ve been stressing about this all week, and now it’s happening. How <em>are you</em>?”</p><p>Jay smiled gratefully at her, repeating, “I’m fine. It’s exactly what I expected it to be, and I’m fine.”</p><p>She accepted that, nodding as she said, “Good.” Then came the question he’d been expecting as she asked with a small frown, “Are you ready to go talk to Grammy? I got my family a table that’s out of the way without any trouble, so I think now would be as good a time as any. We’ll just have to be careful about camera angles.”</p><p><em>She was right</em>, he conceded, noting the paparazzi that were dotted around the lawn as he nodded.</p><p>She waved for him to follow her, and they made their way to the edge of the party with, miraculously, only one interruption to talk to Eugene and Rapunzel Fitzherbert.</p><p>Queen Leah and Princess Aurora were sitting together at a table, sipping tea as they talked with Fa Mulan and Li Lonnie.</p><p>“Could you excuse us for a moment?” Audrey asked them politely.</p><p>“Of course,” Fa Mulan replied, and she and Lonnie stood from the table with Lonnie shooting Jay an encouraging smile as they left.</p><p>Queen Leah and Princess Aurora turned their attention to Jay and Audrey as Queen Leah said, “Prince Javan, correct?”</p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” Jay nodded with a pleasant smile that he didn’t feel like giving her underneath her cool gaze.</p><p>This was a woman who was making her assessment of him far more obvious than most.</p><p>“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Prince Javan,” Princess Aurora said, soft and sweet and the opposite of her mom.</p><p><em>Too soft and sweet to stand up to her mom</em>, Jay made an immediate assessment of his own.</p><p>“Grammy, Mama,” Audrey smiled shyly at her family members as she took Jay’s hand in hers – <em>angled so the gesture was hidden from the crowd at their back</em>, he noted approvingly. “I wanted to introduce you to Prince Javan myself so that I could introduce him to you as my boyfriend.”</p><p>Queen Leah and Princess Aurora looked at Jay and Audrey with a new spark of curiosity in her eyes, surprise flashing across their faces before they, like good royals, schooled their expressions into neutrality.</p><p>“’Boyfriend?’” Queen Leah repeated, giving Jay another once-over. “And when did this begin?”</p><p>Immediately, Audrey answered, and Jay got the feeling his input here wasn’t needed or wanted yet, if it would be at all. “Only a couple weeks ago,” she leaned into Jay, giving him an adoring smile that he returned as she continued, “When he told me his story, and his new status. I started to see then how brave and kind, good and handsome he is. He asked me for help learning how to be a good leader to his people, and in the ensuing phone conversations, we just fell in love.”</p><p>Queen Leah’s expression didn’t falter from her displeased consideration, and Audrey took a subconscious step away from her and closer to Jay. Feeling a slow knot of fury beginning to grow in his gut, Jay wrapped an arm around Audrey’s shoulders, holding her in some small way as he kissed her hair.</p><p>At the display of real affection, something eased in Princess Aurora’s expression, a mother receiving reassurances, and she said kindly, “I’m happy for you both if you’re happy.”</p><p>“Oh, I am,” Audrey assured her. “We are.” Almost timidly, Audrey looked to her grandmother and asked, “Aren’t you happy for Prince Javan and I, Grammy?”</p><p>“I’m sure you understand, Prince Javan, that I just wish we knew you and your… connections better before being asked to approve of you for our Audrey.”</p><p>There was a level of fondness in her tone, but Jay had to tell himself it was okay to hear it after everything he’d learned of her from Audrey. Then again, Audrey <em>had </em>vehemently defended her “grammy” as a woman who did love her but was sick. Clearly, Queen Leah was a stern, no-nonsense little old lady, but she didn’t look as evil as Jay realized he’d wanted her to be.</p><p>He was pulled out of his thoughts as Queen Leah continued, “To that end, would you like to have tea with us?”</p><p>Queen Leah gestured to the empty chairs at the table even as Princess Aurora said gently, “Maybe next time, Mother. Of course, it wouldn’t be polite for us to take up all the prince’s time at his own party.”</p><p>“Of course,” Queen Leah murmured, her hands dropping into her lap.</p><p>She glanced away, but not before Jay saw confusion, and maybe even embarrassment, flash through her eyes.</p><p>Suddenly, for a second, he pitied her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You are right, Mama. We can’t keep him all to ourselves,” Audrey agreed, slipping her hand out of Jay’s and kissing him on the cheek as she took the opportunity to cut him loose from the conversation now that his side of their deal had been kept. “I’ll let you go; I know you have a lot more mingling to do. Text me later, though?”</p><p>“Of course,” Jay agreed, deciding that he would text her later, whether or not she’d said it only for the sake of the ruse. On impulse, before he stepped away, he asked her, “Do you want something from the buffet table?”</p><p>Audrey froze, just for a split second, as she glanced at her grandmother, and all of Jay’s pity for the old bat fled as suddenly as it had come.</p><p>“That would be lovely,” Princess Aurora spoke up. “Thank you for asking, Prince Javan.”</p><p>There was a little more sincerity than there should’ve been in the princess’s eyes, and Jay smiled as kindly as he could manage as he took Audrey’s hand and led her away from her family.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Audrey asked quietly, allowing herself to be led.</p><p>“Taking you to the buffet table,” Jay replied, angry, but not at her. “When was the last time you ate?”</p><p>Audrey didn’t exactly answer his question, quipping instead, “Right now, apparently.”</p><p>A camera flashed in Jay’s periphery, reminding him that he, too, needed to keep his expression more neutral as he handed Audrey a saucer at the buffet table before taking one of his own.</p><p>“Really, Jay,” she reminded him under her breath. “You need to go mingle. It’s important for you, and, besides, if you’re with me too much the press will start asking questions.”</p><p>She wasn’t wrong, he was sure, but he turned to her anyway, asking with a nicer expression than he felt like wearing as he had to ask such a question as: “If I leave you alone, you promise you’ll still eat?”</p><p>“Of course I will, given the—” she caught herself even as she spoke under her breath, but finished as embarrassment flashed through her eyes. “Chance.”</p><p>“Good,” Jay replied gently, reaching out to squeeze her hand in another small bid at comforting her before he loaded his own saucer with food and walked away.</p><hr/><p>When the party wound down, with guests leaving and groundskeepers and caterers coming in to clean up the mess they left behind, Jay was surprised to realize that it was only just after three in the evening. <em>Waking up early must have thrown his internal clock for a real loop, </em>he decided, wandering around the grounds just so that he didn’t have to go inside the castle. He knew that Queen Belle was in a meeting with Princess Aurora somewhere around here, which meant that Audrey hadn’t left yet, and he considered trying to find her just to have someone to talk to, but before he could, his phone rang, and Rafi’s name and number lit up the screen.</p><p>“Hey, Raf,” he answered tiredly, blinking in surprise when angry voices filtered through as background noise from wherever Rafi was. Carefully, he asked, “What’s up?”</p><p>“King Ben is requesting your presence in his office,” Rafi replied, sounding a little, and a little unusually, rattled. “The paparazzi have struck already, and Lady Mal is not… to be calmed by anyone but you, to paraphrase what she’s actually saying.”</p><p>It clicked that the people shouting near Rafi were Mal, Ben, and Jane, and if he was right about what he was hearing Mal say, Jay didn’t blame Rafi for paraphrasing her words.</p><p>“What do you mean ‘the paparazzi have struck?’ How?” <em>Surely, he didn’t mean when Jay had been around Audrey, like Audrey had warned him of. They’d been so careful!</em></p><p>Yet Rafi’s next words confirmed his fears. “Someone got footage of you and Princess Audrey and passed it on to Princess Snow White. As you can imagine, she’s had a field day with it; it’s already been on the afternoon news. Presently, Jane is trying to… calm King Ben and Lady Mal, Doug is nowhere to be found, so I have Ahmed and Jordan taking press calls for me so that I can attempt to locate him and call you and Audrey to the king.”</p><p>Jay drew in a deep breath, wondering just how complicated this would make his otherwise straight-forward deal with Audrey. It was bad enough that his own emotions were getting tangled inside his head; no one needed the information being spread to the world to start getting tangled as well. It was apparently too bad, because that was what was going to happen now, he was sure of it.</p><p>
  <em>Unless they could get this all sorted immediately.</em>
</p><p>“I’m on my way to Ben’s office, then,” Jay assured Rafi, hanging up the call and sprinting towards the castle.</p><p>A mass of reporters was being shooed away by castle guards, and Jay swerved to avoid them and go around the side of the building without a thought. He scaled a drainpipe to get to a second-floor balcony near Ben’s office, conceding to a moment of humor in the middle of his stress as he admitted to himself that he, like the rest of his family, might be part monkey too.</p><p>Slipping out of what he was pretty sure was King Adam’s office, he started down the hall to Ben’s office. Audrey met him halfway there, her face drawn with lines of tension as she saw him and immediately apologized, “I’m sorry. This is so much more than what you bargained for.”</p><p>“It’s more than what either of us bargained for,” Jay corrected. “And I’m not sorry. You still need help; I’m still willing to help if you’ll let me. Sound good?”</p><p>Audrey searched his face like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she admitted, “That sounds perfect.”</p><p>“Good.” Jay shoved a hand in his pocket, grabbing Audrey’s wrist with his free hand to stop her just out of hearing range of Ben’s office as he asked, “How do you want to play this part, then?”</p><p>Audrey bit her lip, thinking, and Jay didn’t miss the way her nose twitched, like she was suddenly fighting tears as she asked quietly, “Who’s in Ben’s office?”</p><p>“Mal, Ben, Jane, probably Rafi, and hopefully Evie and Doug. Which probably means Carlos, too, if everyone else is in there.”</p><p>Audrey put her free hand over her eyes, saying quietly, “I have to tell Ben the truth. I need him to understand how important the deposition is at this point, and I don’t know if or when I’ll get another chance.”</p><p>“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? With everyone in there, or do you want me to tell some of them to get out, because I can if you need me to.”</p><p>“I don’t think you shoving some of them out would go over well, do you?”</p><p>Jay shrugged, not quite willing to admit that she was probably right, particularly if Mal’s temper was still as bad as it had sounded over the phone.</p><p>Audrey shook her head, slipping her hand into his without seeming to notice she’d done it as she drew in a steeling breath and said, “No, let’s just go in there and get this over with.”</p><p>“Okay,” he agreed softly, walking with her to open the door to Ben’s office.</p>
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<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ben was propped up against the window with a faraway look in his eyes, Rafi had apparently notified Evie and Doug because they were standing together in the far corner looking exhausted, Rafi must have fled the scene altogether, Jane and Carlos were both working to calm Mal, and Mal was standing behind Ben’s desk, muttering a steady flow of “what the fuck” as she watched something on Ben’s tablet.</p><p>Jay barely had time to note the people in the room, though, before Mal picked up Ben’s planner and threw it at his head, seething loudly one last time, “What the fuck?!”</p><p>Jay dodged the projectile, grabbing it out of the air and making sure he was blocking Audrey from the others’ view before he turned to Mal, his eyebrows upraised and his gaze unimpressed as he met her fuming, acid green gaze. “Are you <em>kidding me</em>?” he demanded. “Literally everyone in this room has had a worse day than you, so it’s time for you to calm down now. Are you gonna calm down, ‘cause I’m not dealing with you if you’re going to be like this.”</p><p>Mal calmed down just a hair as she nodded towards the tablet, demanding, “Have you seen this?”</p><p>“The footage, I assume?”</p><p>Carlos and Mal both nodded as Carlos grabbed the tablet and handed it to Jay. Jay pressed “play,” holding the tablet so that Audrey could see the clip, too. Someone had recorded his introduction to Queen Leah and Princess Aurora, captured Audrey saying they were in love, and the way that he’d pulled her close and kissed her hair.</p><p>“Someone was watching you through the bushes, it looks like,” Doug commented tonelessly.</p><p>“That’s disgusting,” Jay muttered.</p><p>Ben sighed, saying dryly, “Welcome to royal life, Prince Javan.” He crossed his arms over his chest, tilting sideways to peer over Jay’s shoulder, looking for and finding Audrey. “You may as well come in and shut the door.”</p><p>Audrey’s eyes betrayed an uncertainty that her proud stance did not as she stepped up beside Jay and shut the office door.</p><p>In his own way, Ben must have been waiting for Mal’s rant to end, too, because he turned to her and asked almost the same question Jay had: “Are you done now?”</p><p>They all watched Mal swallow her anger as she took a breath and the glow dimmed, then disappeared from her eyes.</p><p>When she nodded, Ben sighed again, stepping into the middle of the room to take both the tablet and the planner from Jay. The young king was clearly still pensive and thinking as he set the book back on the desk. He tapped the tablet, replaying the clip as he moved to sit in his desk chair with Mal standing beside him, and Jay was content to wait Ben out, since he clearly had something on his mind.</p><p>Jay saw it dawn on Mal that Ben actually was upset even though he was quiet, and that was when she truly calmed – for her boyfriend – laying a hand across his shoulders to prompt quietly, “Ben?”</p><p>Ben’s head snapped up, gaze locking onto Audrey as he asked, “Do you want to know what I think this is?”</p><p>Audrey shrugged uncomfortably, and Jay suddenly wondered how much Ben and Audrey had been in contact since their breakup. “You can give it your best shot.”</p><p>“This is one of three things,” Ben declared, clearly thinking aloud now. He gestured between Audrey and Jay. “Either this relationship is real, or one of you is playing the other,” Audrey snorted, but nobody missed the hurt that flashed through her eyes as Ben continued undeterred, “<em>Or </em>this is both of you, working together on a ruse to play somebody else altogether. So…” he glanced between them, suddenly wearing the most open expression in the room as he asked calmly, “Which is it?”</p><p>Jay ached to snap, at Ben for the comment that had hurt Audrey, at Mal for her pettiness, at <em>all </em>of the people in this room who’d grown up with Audrey and then dropped her the moment Mal had been on Ben’s arm instead, who had so quickly become oblivious to what she was going through. <em>He’d had the excuse of not knowing her. What had they had?</em> But he knew himself, and his temper. After the stress he’d felt this morning, if he started snapping now, he wouldn’t calm down again until after his fist had collided with someone’s face, and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead, he clenched his jaw and turned to Audrey, knowing that she’d come in her to tell her story, and wanting to give her the space to do that.</p><p>But she didn’t. Not really, not yet. Instead, she looked at Ben for a long, tense moment, seeing more in his expression than Jay ever could’ve hoped to when he looked at the king, and finally, quietly, she asked, “Which do you think it is, Ben? Really, which one?”</p><p>Ben leaned back in his chair, asking levelly, “How much am I allowed to say?”</p><p><em>And wasn’t that an interesting question? </em>Jay thought. <em>Did Ben deserve more credit here after all?</em></p><p>“You can say whatever you want,” Audrey replied, a tiredness creeping into her voice that Jay hated, that was making Jane squint at her already.</p><p>“What I <em>know</em>,” Ben began. “Is that your dad cornered me at the garden party, and we talked for most of the party about how the deposition was going. I <em>think</em> he’s getting impatient for it to be over and done with, and I think that’s probably because your grandmother’s illness is getting worse. Am I on the right track here?”</p><p>Still stiff and probably more uncertain than she was used to, Audrey nodded.</p><p>“Okay,” Ben sighed heavily. “Queen Leah’s getting worse… which,” he spread his hands. “Forgive me, but that gives more reasons for it to be a ruse, doesn’t it? In balance of probability?”</p><p>“But you really think that I would do that?” Audrey asked sharply. “Try and play Jay like that? Just whore myself out to the first Grammy-approved guy that comes along?!”</p><p>“I <em>never </em>said that.”</p><p>“Then what are you saying?!”</p><p>“Audrey!” Ben surged to his feet, looking pained. “I’m trying to ask you if you’re in trouble here!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Then do that,” Carlos broke in, stepping suddenly into the space between them. “If you think someone is in trouble, say <em>that</em>, don’t question their survival tactics, otherwise, yeah, you’re gonna get an argument.” He paused, head tilting to the side in a half-shrug as he added, “At least from what I’ve <em>observed</em> on the Isle; it was pretty… well, rare that I was directly involved.” Then he asked, gaze flickering to the corner of the room, “Evie, what are you doing?”</p><p>Jay looked with everyone else to Evie, who’d began to dig through the purse she had on her shoulder. “Looking for a makeup wipe,” Evie answered blandly.</p><p>“Why?” Jay asked, baffled.</p><p>Evie looked up from her purse with the expected wipe, holding it out to Audrey as she ignored his question to ask one of her own, “Do you usually use waterproof makeup, Audrey?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” Audrey answered guardedly, glancing at the wipe, but not taking it.</p><p>“Did you today?”</p><p>“I—” Audrey chuckled, and it just sounded fake and nervous. “I don’t know. My assistant, Abigail, did my makeup today.”</p><p> “I’m guessing it’s not your usual waterproof products,” Evie said, factual but still gentle, and she extended the makeup wipe again. “Because I’m pretty sure there’s a bit of… discoloration where…”</p><p>Evie trailed off, and Jay moved to Audrey’s other side with knitted brows so that he could see what Evie was looking at. “What ‘discoloration?’”</p><p>There was a single tear track down Audrey’s cheek, but Jay had never noticed anything about makeup before, and he wasn’t able to start now, even when he wanted to.</p><p>Carlos realized what Evie meant, though, asking carefully, “Audrey… are there bruises? What’s going on here?”</p><p>“No way,” Jane was already shaking her head. “Not stuff like that, not in Auradon.”</p><p>“Weren’t you listening to the sultana?” Carlos asked. “This ‘stuff’ has always been in Auradon; it’s just whether or not people are willing to admit it.”</p><p>Audrey rolled her eyes, brushing away the makeup wipe as she ordered Evie, “Put that away.” Then she explained grudgingly, “You know how Grammy gets shaky sometimes—” Jay swallowed a disgusted scoff at how immediately Queen Leah came into the conversation. “Like older people do, right? She almost fell, so I grabbed her before she could. In the confusion, we got tangled up, and I fell down the stairs. So, yeah, there’s a bruise on my cheek, a couple more on my legs, but that’s to be expected when someone <em>falls down a flight of stairs</em>.”</p><p>“You fell or you were pushed?” Ben asked firmly.</p><p>Audrey winced, but at least she was honest as she answered, “We were arguing, yeah, but it all happened so fast, I—I’m honestly not sure.”</p><p>“So, what I need to understand here,” Ben asked in a strange tone. “Is that I’ve just been <em>actually </em>informed that Queen Leah is a danger to herself and others.”</p><p>“You hadn’t been informed of that before?” Jay asked incredulously.</p><p>“No. Should I have been?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Can we all just agree that pride is a funny thing, and move on?” Audrey asked. “Ben, why is that information important?”</p><p>“Because it changes how I’m able to go about the deposition.” He came from around his desk, pacing now as he explained, “Before, it was mandatory that I go to the council of states, as well as my private council members and take a vote, and since I can’t exactly take that vote while Queen Leah’s present with the council of states, I’ve been making my way through the states one by one, as I can visit them in person.”</p><p>“That’s why it was taking so long,” Jay realized aloud.</p><p>“Yes,” Ben agreed, and Jay was glad that the remark didn’t faze his friend as Jay realized for himself that Ben probably <em>had </em>been really trying to make this happen quickly, it just hadn’t been working. “Now, because I have witness statements that Queen Leah is capable of causing physical harm to others, if I can get physical evidence – photographs, more witnesses,” he looked apologetically at Audrey, adding, “Maybe a live autopsy – I can bypass the vote with the state council, use the vote to depose Queen Leah that I already have with my private council, and have this done by the time you guys go home.”</p><p>Jay moved to support Audrey when she swayed with relief as she asked, “Really?”</p><p>Ben nodded, frowning as he searched her face. “Really.”</p><p>“Jane,” Carlos suddenly ordered evenly, studying Audrey’s face again. “Go to the ILD office next door; Mom keeps a jar of candies on her desk. Bring a handful of them back here. Hurry.”</p><p>Realizing why Carlos was worried, Mal rolled Ben’s chair from behind his desk, worry clear where frustration had been only minutes ago as she said, “Here, Audrey, sit.”</p><p>“I’m fine,” Audrey objected, trying to take a step away from Jay as the others encircled them.</p><p>She swayed again, though, and closest to her, Doug caught her, guiding her into the chair with a frown on his face and an arm around her waist as he asked, “Why are you so skinny, Audrey?”</p><p>Audrey closed her eyes, commenting tiredly, “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to comment on a lady’s weight?”</p><p>“I can if she’s not been eating,” Doug replied, kneeling in front of Audrey. He turned, slow and suspicious, to Jay, asking, “That’s what you meant, isn’t it, about Queen Leah being a danger to others even though she’s not hitting people? Audrey…” Jay was pretty sure Doug knew what he wanted to ask, he just wasn’t sure how to frame the question.</p><p>Jay had no such issue, asking gently as he knelt beside the chair and took Audrey’s hand, “Hey, foxy, when <em>was </em>the last time you ate?”</p><p>“Don’t call me that,” Audrey muttered, blinking to clear her vision and focus on his face as Jane came back into the room and handed a cinnamon disc to her.</p><p>“Don’t avoid the question,” Doug ordered.</p><p>Audrey glared at him, but he stared straight back at her until she turned to Jay again to ask, “I ate breakfast at your house a couple days ago, right?”</p><p>“You’re kidding,” Jay demanded.</p><p>Audrey shrugged. “Grammy found out I ran away. One of the housemaids heard me talking to Flora about it, and told Grammy, and she… wasn’t happy with me.”</p><p>Jay turned to look over his shoulder at Ben, keeping his voice steady even though he knew there was agony in his eyes as he said, “That deposition <em>will </em>be done before she goes back to Auroria.”</p><p>Ben nodded, his own pain swirling in his eyes as he looked between Audrey and Jay. “It will,” he promised.</p>
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<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a couple minutes of tense silence and with a few cinnamon discs in her so that she at least had something in her system, Audrey looked mildly better, if embarrassed at being seen in such a weak state.</p><p>“Better?” Jane finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.</p><p>Audrey nodded.</p><p>Audrey was clearly as surprised as anyone when Jane lurched between Doug and Jay to hug her tightly, but she returned the hug with arms that wound increasingly firmly around Jane’s middle as the younger girl asked her with a crack in her voice, “Why didn’t you <em>say</em> anything?”</p><p>“I did,” Audrey said, gentle with Jane, but clearly still uncomfortable as she glanced at Ben, then seemed to decide it was easier to meet Jane’s watery eyes. “Last year when Grammy first started getting bad. I came to Ben with my parents, and we started working on a deposition. Things didn’t get… bad until after I broke up with Chad, and by then, things were… pretty different between all of us, so I wasn’t sure… who to go to, who I <em>could </em>still go to.” She shrugged. “So, I didn’t go to anyone. I thought I could just wait out the deposition.”</p><p>“Audrey,” Jane said firmly, her eyes darkening with a seriousness that Jay hadn’t seen from her before. “Not <em>everything</em> is different. I may not work with you every day now, but I’m still your friend. I would still be there in an instant if you needed me to be, <em>especially </em>for something like this.”</p><p>“I second that,” Doug agreed with a thin smile.</p><p>“And the motion carries,” Ben added, looking down at Audrey. “We’re here for you, maybe not in the same roles we used to have, but as your friends, always as your friends. That was never supposed to change, and I’m sorry if you felt like it did.”</p><p>Audrey gave him a careful smile, replying, “You’re forgiven.”</p><p>A beat passed between them before Ben asked uncertainly, “Audrey?”</p><p>“We’re okay,” she assured him, answering the unasked question. “Friends sounds nice. I would like to be friends.”</p><p>“Me too,” Ben said with a soft smile of his own. Then he asked, “Your family is planning on staying to see Mrs. Radcliffe’s next speech the day after tomorrow, right?”</p><p>Audrey nodded.</p><p>“Okay. I’ll have the deposition ready to enact by then. But if I am to do that, I need to get to work right away.”</p><p>It was a gentle dismissal, and they all took it as such. Jane, Carlos, Doug, and Evie all left together, whispering somberly with one another, and Mal remained with Jay, on Audrey’s other side as they hovered just in case she started swaying again as they walked out.</p><p>Then Ben asked, “Jay?” Jay turned back to him. He’d honestly forgotten the original reason they’d come into the office thanks to the turn the conversation had taken, but he remembered the second he saw the look on Ben’s face as the king asked, “Can you stay and give me your statement, please?”</p><p>Jay glanced back at Mal and Audrey, the latter of whom looked a little concerned, but Mal assured him, “It’s okay, Jay. I think, ah, Audrey and I have a couple of things to discuss, too – things that have been a long time coming.”</p><p>There was an apology coming from Mal, Jay could tell by her careful tone, her uncertain expression, and that, more than anything, made him okay with stepping away from the two girls, but not until he pressed another kiss to Audrey’s hair, murmuring, “Let me know if you need anything.”</p><p>She nodded, and once the girls had left, Ben requested mildly, “Shut the door for me?”</p><p>Jay did, as Ben put his desk chair back where it belonged and grabbed his tablet. He took a seat in one of the two plush brown chairs across from the desk, gesturing for Jay to do the same before he pointed out kindly, “You know, neither you or Audrey really answered the original question I asked.”</p><p>“What’s that?” he opted to play dumb, buy himself a couple seconds to think. <em>Audrey had said she wanted to tell the truth about why all of this was happening, right? So, he should tell the truth about that.</em></p><p>“The relationship between the two of you,” Ben pressed. “Real or ruse?”</p><p>It was the exact same question Aladdin had asked him, and Jay found himself giving a similar answer, despite the niggle of his conscience that said the answer was quickly becoming a lie. “It’s a ruse. Audrey needed princely protection, like you suggested, and we are working <em>together</em>, faking a relationship, so that she can get… back in Queen Leah’s good graces.”</p><p>“Yeah, see,” Ben scratched his eyebrow, saying, “Here’s the thing: when you’ve known someone as long as I’ve known Audrey, especially in the positions Audrey and I were in together, you learn how to spot when something is real, and when someone is ‘faking a relationship.’ Because there were times when we would get into fights, but we’d still have to make an appearance for an event or whatever, and so we’d fake being fine with each other. I <em>know </em>what that looks like, especially from her, because, frankly, I saw it a lot in the months leading up to your arrival here. We weren’t in a good place by the time you guys arrived, but that’s neither here nor there, and I digress. My point is I know what it looks like when Audrey’s faking a relationship, and this,” he handed Jay the tablet, where the footage was paused with him and Audrey looking into one another’s eyes, and Jay was startled to realize that they were doing a <em>really </em>good job of looking in love. <em>Sure, it had become easy for him to act like he was in love with Audrey, because he </em>was <em>falling for her, </em>but he was struck again with how easily Audrey portrayed the same emotions. “Jay, this is <em>not</em> faking it.” Ben caught Jay’s eye, repeating, “Regardless of how this started, this is not fake anymore.”</p>
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<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You are the last person on earth who should be telling me this!” Jay objected, not sure what else to say as he tossed the tablet into Ben’s lap.</p><p>“Am I really?” Ben asked. “Because here’s what I really want you to know. One: if this is real, I’m not going to stir up trouble about it. I’m a friend to both of you, and if you’re both happy, I’m glad you’re happy. Two:” he set the tablet aside, lacing his hands together, elbows on his knees as he sat forward and held Jay’s gaze. “If you hurt her, there is no place in this country where I am unable to make your life a living hell. Okay?”</p><p>“That’s a bit ironic coming from you, I have a feeling,” Jay pointed out.</p><p>“Believe me, I know,” Ben shot back dryly. “But it’s because I know she’s been through so much that, as her <em>friend</em>, I want to keep her from being hurt more.”</p><p>“Then we’re on the same page,” Jay levelled back carefully. “I don’t want anyone to hurt her either.”</p><p>Ben scoffed awkwardly, understanding what Jay wasn’t quite saying as he proposed, “How about this? I won’t hurt Auds anymore if you don’t. And if you <em>do</em> hurt her, I have to come after you, which will <em>also </em>hurt her. Does that make sense?”</p><p>Jay paused before answering uncertainly, “Maybe a little.”</p><p>Ben chuckled. “I’ll take it.”</p><p>“This is still super weird to be talking to you about.”</p><p>“Why? She is my friend, and I do want to protect her, to make sure she’s happy.”</p><p>“But she’s also your <em>ex</em>, and… on the Isle, I’d never go have a civil sit-down with one of my ex’s new guys.”</p><p>“This isn’t the Isle, though,” Ben pointed out. “And I was raised by Queen Belle… and King Adam, which means that, growing up, I occasionally heard a reminder from my mom to my dad that went something like ‘men who fight over women are the ones who felt like they were toys in the first place.’ Audrey’s not a toy; she’s a real living breathing person, who deserves to be treated as such.” He sighed, adding, “And with that in mind, I should probably, actually start on deposition work.”</p><p>“So, we’re just… good?” Jay checked as Ben stood from his seat and grabbed his laptop.</p><p>“Yeah.” Ben turned to look at him again. “I mean, I am if you are. So, <em>are </em>we good?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Jay nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, sure, that’s just… really cool of you.”</p><p>Ben shrugged, sitting back down across from Jay as he repeated, “’Men who fight over women are the ones who felt like they were toys in the first place,’ and Audrey’s not a toy.” He booted up his laptop as he changed the subject, saying, “But now I really do need to know what you know about the situation in Auroria.”</p><hr/><p>A couple hours after Jay left Ben’s office, he got text from Carlos that said, “<em>Mrs. R pushed tomorrow’s ILD meeting up to today. Can you be in her office in 30?</em>”</p><p>Jay stifled a sigh – he hated to admit it, but he just wasn’t in the mood for <em>any </em>more meetings today – and took off the boxing gloves he’d been using to pound his frustrations into a punching bag in the castle’s gym. “<em>Sure.” </em>He unwrapped the bandages around his hands and shoved them into his gym bag before adding, “<em>Are you still with E?</em>”</p><p>“<em>No. She wanted space to talk without saying something that would make Jane more upset, so I just got back from a walk with Jane. Doug is still with E.</em>”</p><p><em>Doug hadn’t left Evie’s side today, </em>from what he could recall, Jay mused as he slung his bag over his shoulder and went to change. That spoke really well of him, and of Doug and Evie as a couple, and if this went the way Jay suspected it eventually would, he had a feeling he was going to be even more glad for how well they were leaning on each other.</p><hr/><p>“Goodness,” Mrs. Radcliffe commented with a frown, looking at the quartet of teenagers opposite her desk. “It’s been a difficult day, hasn’t it?” There were nods and a few mumbled agreements before she continued, “Well, take heart; this isn’t so much a meeting as it is an update, since it’s proven more difficult than we’d expected it to be to get all five of us in one place over the summer. I thought maybe some good news would help lighten the heaviness of the day.</p><p>“When we last spoke, I brought up the Three Drowned Fairies children’s home, and told you that I would be writing Yen Sid to get his opinion on how it would be best to remove those children from the Isle, and last week, I received his reply. Since then, Carlos, Miss Grimhilde, and I have found Auradonian homes for ten of the eleven children. We’ve written the biological parents of those children, informing them that their little ones will be brought over here next week. I’ve already received a couple replies: one thanking us for getting their child to safety, and asking further questions that I’d imagine any concerned parent in this… awful situation would ask, the other asking how she could relinquish her parental rights entirely – two themes that I’d imagine every biological parent will fall into one side or the other of.”</p><p>Carlos asked Mal, “And there’s been no progress with convincing King Adam to give up his Legume ban for the eleventh child?”</p><p>Mal shook her head. “No, but Ben’s still trying to chip away at him about it. I think he’s almost got Belle on his side, at least.”</p><p>“Which is good,” Mrs. Radcliffe insisted gently, “And it’s certainly better than nothing being done for the poor little boy.</p><p>“But… would you like to look at what else is good?” She turned her laptop towards them, saying, “The interviews, the favorable press for the VKs, it’s working. People – ordinary, everyman citizens of Auradon – are coming forward, contacting the ILD and offering to foster or adopt VKs. We’ve been very busy – myself, Carlos, Miss Grimhilde, and Doug Klein – and we’ve matched up over a dozen VKs with families here in Auradon. More… ‘everyman’ VKs, the children of small-time pirates or thieves, magical beings, or corrupt guards, and we’ve sent those children and their parents letters as well, telling them they have a spot – a home – here, if they want it. All of them have accepted, and altogether, next week, we will be bringing over twenty-three VKs, who will be finding new homes primarily in Neverland, Lone Keep, and, interestingly, Tangletown.”</p>
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<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I still say putting kids in Tangletown – right next to Auroria, one of the biggest oppositions to this movement – is going to be some sort of move,” Carlos murmured.</p><p>Mal drew in a deep breath, saying lightly, “I think I’m to going to point out – given the conversation with a particular princess that I left just an hour ago –” Jay’s eyebrow twitched, knowing Mal meant Audrey, and admittedly, he started paying better attention to what was being said. “That the actions of few don’t dictate the opinions of all.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Carlos asked.</p><p>Mal sighed. “I’m going to assume, ‘Los, that you’re thinking of the boycotting and phone calls from Charmington and Auroria. I just spent <em>hours </em>hashing things out with… an Aurorian representative—”</p><p>“Yeah, we all know.”</p><p>“—And her main…” Mal sighed, not sure how to say what she wanted to with Mrs. Radcliffe <em>right there</em>. “Argument against… <em>my</em>… biases was that there’s people who agree with us, and people who disagree with us in every state, right? The people who have been stirred to <em>action </em>by their leaders who disagree that strongly with us just happen to be in Charmington and Auroria. That doesn’t actually mean that everyone there is against us. Like the representative. Turns out she’s not against the VKs as a whole… just…” Mal shrugged, finishing, “Me.”</p><p>“But you’re working on it?” Jay asked tentatively, noticing how Mrs. Radcliffe was smiling, thin and knowing, despite Mal’s botched efforts at being cryptic.</p><p>Mal smiled wryly. “Only because we both love you so much, yeah, we’re working on it. Turns out she’s pretty cool.”</p><p>“Yes,” he agreed quietly. “She is.”</p><hr/><p>As they left the ILD office, with Carlos and Mrs. Radcliffe going home for the day and Mal already on the phone with Ben about something political-sounding, Jay gently took Evie’s hand the moment they were alone in the corridor, tugging her into an alcove.</p><p>He didn’t even have time to open his mouth, to ask any of the many questions on his mind before Evie was already shaking her head. “I can’t, Jay. I really can’t talk about it anymore right now. I know you know something is up, and I know you’ve probably figured out what, but I have rehashed it to death with all the wrong people today, and I just—I can’t—”</p><p>A knot formed harshly in his stomach as he was suddenly struck with why Evie might be so unhappy right now. <em>Ten </em>of the <em>eleven </em>Three Drowned Fairies kids were coming over; that meant one was being left behind. <em>His friend wasn’t worried about what would happen when her kid – when her son – came to Auradon, she was worried because he wasn’t coming yet, wasn’t she?</em></p><p>“It’s a boy, right?” Jay asked gently, just to see if she would at least broach the topic with him.</p><p>Evie nodded.</p><p>“What’s his name?”</p><p>“Grayson Grimhilde.” Evie shook her head. “Maybe it’s Grayson Legume, I don’t know. Last names are weird on the Isle, and I never really thought the last name mattered until now, but now it’s all that matters, because he’s a Legume, so he can’t come over.”</p><p>Evie’s reaction to Jasmine’s speech had worried Jay in a way that he hadn’t been able to put his finger on in the moment, but now, now it clicked in his mind despite all the directions his thoughts were already being pulled in, and he could’ve thrown up right then and there. “Evie,” he asked, choosing his words, and how he asked the question, as carefully as he knew how. “Is there a Legume that I need to go back to the Isle and kill?”</p><p>That forced a startled laugh out of her, though it sounded more like the beginning of a sob. “Yes and no.”</p><p><em>But mostly “yes.” </em>He understood that part as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her so that she could bury her face in his shoulder. He’d fully expected her to cry, but she didn’t, just took a few deep breaths until she had regained her composure and stepped away.</p><p>“Who?” he asked softly.</p><p>She searched his face before demanding, “Swear you won’t <em>actually </em>go kill anybody?”</p><p>“We’ll see.”</p><p>“Jay.”</p><p>He sighed heavily. “Okay. But <em>only </em>for you.”</p><p>“And your family, because it might kill your mom if you’re sentenced back onto the Isle.”</p><p>“That’s fair. Now. Who am I <em>not </em>killing? Is it a twin?”</p><p>She nodded, and the moment of levity fled instantly as she looked down at her shoes, tucking her hair behind her ear as she muttered, “Junior.”</p><p>“Noted.” He tilted his head, trying to get a better look at her face as he asked gently, “You sure you don’t wanna talk about it?”</p><p>“I’m very sure. Not right now. But thank you. Unless,” she looked up, suddenly meeting his eyes. “<em>You </em>need or want to talk about your situation. Because if that’s what you want, I’m here for you whenever you need to talk.”</p><p>Evie had clearly been through an emotional wringer today, the same as the rest of them at this point, and Jay wasn’t going to put her through that. He smiled softly. “No, I’m good for now, but… the same goes for you. You’re there for me, and I’ll be there for you, if you’re ever ready to talk about anything.”</p><p>“Thanks, Jay.” She gave his hand one more squeeze, then walked away with her head held high and her usual smile in place.</p><hr/><p>The next morning, Rafi woke Jay up with a carefully hopeful smile already on his face. “I brought you more Jane LaFae tea,” his assistant said, extending it like a peace offering, and even half asleep, Jay recognized a bribe when he saw one.</p><p>“Why?” he asked suspiciously, sitting up and taking a sip of the steaming tea.</p><p>“Because I have a proposition for you,” Rafi answered, moving to pick out Jay’s clothes for the day. “And I need you to agree to it where or not you want to.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jay snorted as he threw off his blankets. “Great. Do I get to know what your <em>proposition </em>entails?” he asked with a smirk.</p><p>Rafi whirled to face him with a start, stammering worriedly, “Not—not like that! I didn’t—I wouldn’t—”</p><p>“Hey,” Jay held up a hand, not prepared for keeping up with rambling this early in the morning. “I was just kidding around, Raf.”</p><p>Rafi drew in a calming breath, but he was still tense and nervous as he replied levelly, “I know that. I do. Just… jokes like that aren’t… in good taste in polite society here. Be careful who you say those things around, okay?”</p><p>“Okay,” Jay agreed somberly, before putting the conversation back on track as he asked, “What do you need from me?”</p>
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<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We need you to make a press conference appearance,” Rafi said hopefully, laying Jay’s outfit on the end of the bed.</p><p><em>He should’ve seen that coming. </em>“To talk about what?”</p><p>“All of it. The sultan and sultana will be there, too, and they’ll handle most of the questions, I’m sure, but you’ll be asked to talk about your move from the Isle to Auradon to Agrabah and princedom – all of <em>that</em>.”</p><p>“And Audrey,” Ben said, leaning against the doorjamb with a coffee cup in his hand. “You’ll be asked to talk about Audrey.”</p><p>“Have you been there the whole time?” Rafi asked.</p><p>“No, I just got here,” Ben replied before he took a long drink of his coffee. “I wanted to try and get Jay more comfortable with the idea of a press conference, but when I got here, I heard you were already doing that.”</p><p>“Oh, he definitely hadn’t gotten to the ‘comforting’ part,” Jay said.</p><p>Ben snorted as he stepped further into the room, with Rafi objecting, “I was going to get to that. Here.” Rafi pulled a stack of notecards out of his pants’ pocket and handed them to Jay. “I even wrote down some stock answers to likely questions for if you get <em>too </em>nervous.”</p><p>Jay swung his legs over the edge of the bed before he flipped through the notecards. “I really have to do this, don’t I?”</p><p>“You really do,” Ben agreed firmly.</p><p>There was an unexpected edge, barely there, in Ben’s tone, so Jay asked, “Why?” even though he thought he knew the answer.</p><p>“Well, because the paparazzi <em>will </em>follow you until you throw them a bone,” Ben began. “And because the people – at least of Lone Keep – really do deserve more information about their new heir to the throne. <em>Also</em>,” Ben backtracked to shut the bedroom door. “Because the people of Lone Keep <em>may </em>be nervous about you dating Audrey, and the people of Auroria <em>are </em>nervous – to put it lightly – about Audrey dating you.” <em>Okay, he’d only thought of half of Ben’s answer</em>, Jay allowed as Ben finished, “So, if you can just get in front of some cameras, answer some questions, you’ll put some of the people’s unrest at ease.”</p><p>“Alright.” Jay made a show of sighing laboriously. “I can do that.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Rafi said.</p><p>Ben opened the bedroom door again as he said, “Now, I’ll leave you to get dressed. Be back on the lawn and ready for the cameras by eleven?”</p><hr/><p><em>That hadn’t been so bad</em>, Jay allowed to himself, stepping down from the platform on Beast’s Castle’s lawn for the second time in as many days. A morning spent studying Rafi’s notecards left him far more prepared than he would’ve been on his own, and the press conference had gone perfectly.</p><p>Well, the press conference had gone smoothly. As he walked back inside to lunch, he found himself wishing he had said more, said something <em>else </em>in some cases, or at least used the literal platform to mention the needs of his fellow VKs, his <em>friends </em>who were still on the Isle.</p><p>“You’re overthinking,” Aladdin muttered under his breath, walking just behind Jay.</p><p>Aziz pointed out from beside Aladdin, “You’ll have more chances to say what’s on your mind. There <em>will </em>be more media coverage at some point. Probably soon.”</p><p>Jay smiled wryly, but before he could answer, Audrey practically bounced up to the Ababwas, smiling widely. She took Jay’s arm, now walking sedately towards the dining room with them as she said quietly, but clearly excited, “He did it! Ben deposed Grammy officially this morning. There are still things to work out – publicly and privately – but he did it. Dad is king of Auroria,” the relief in her eyes was palpable as she met Jay’s gaze, saying almost-silently, “Jay, I’m <em>safe</em>.”</p><p>“That’s great,” Jay answered earnestly, squeezing her hand in his where it rested on his arm. “Really, really great.”</p><p>And he <em>was </em>incredibly relieved to hear it, but a small, selfish part of his mind wondered, <em>if she didn’t need there ruse anymore, where did that leave them?</em></p><p>Jay was glad when at the beginning of the lunch, Queen Leah stood and announced to her peers that she had made the decision to hand the throne to her successor, Prince Phillip. The trade-off was to come into effect the next day, with the Roses and the Florians taking the opportunity of already being together to do the necessary paperwork, and then all the royals were invited to Prince Phillip’s coronation that was to take place the following week.</p><p>On one hand, Jay was glad that Queen Leah was showing the grace and presence of mind to make these announcements herself. On the other hand, he skeptically wondered how bad the fight to get her to relinquish her power had been behind closed doors.</p><p>And he began to wonder all over again about his own situation with the Roses. With Audrey. She wasn’t going to need him around anymore. <em>But was there any chance that she might </em>want <em>him around? </em></p><p>The nice thing about being Audrey’s official boyfriend – thanks, paparazzi – was that he could request a corner on her attention without anyone questioning them, Jay discovered as he took Audrey’s hand and pulled her away from the crowd at the end of lunch.</p><p>“Jay, what’s going on?” she asked in confusion as they walked into the sunlight. “Where are we going?”</p><p>“That’s what I would like to know,” he replied, putting her hand in the crook of his elbow as they began to wander through the rose garden. “Where are we going from here?”</p><p>Audrey paused in their stroll, just for half a beat as she realized what he meant. “Oh.” She drew in a steeling breath, saying, “I guess we do need a more concrete game plan, don’t we?”</p><p>He nodded and waited for her to give her opinion on how she wanted to continue… or <em>not </em>continue.</p><p>“Obviously,” she said, looking around at the flowers and not at him as she parsed out her thoughts aloud. “The paparazzi made things a lot more complicated than I think we were prepared for, but that doesn’t have to change the end result. For that matter, we could get in a conveniently public fight, and break up before we even leave to go to our own homes.”</p><p>“Is that what you want to do?” Jay asked, careful to keep his tone and expression blank.</p><p>Audrey gave him a strange look anyway, before her gaze snapped to something behind him, a line of surprise appearing between her eyebrows. Jay turned to look at whatever had caught her attention, and he was surprised to see Evie and Doug sitting on a concrete bench, heads bent together, hands intertwined.</p><p>“Are they okay?” Audrey asked under her breath. “I know I don’t know her very well, and there was a lot going on then, but… Evie was weird yesterday, right?”</p><p>Unsure how to answer any of those questions, Jay sighed heavily.</p><p>“Come on,” Audrey said, surprising him by tugging him closer to his friends. “You look like you want to check on them.”</p>
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<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Unsure that Evie would want them around at the moment, Jay dragged behind until Doug caught his eye and waved them over. “You guys okay?” Jay asked Evie and Doug carefully.</p><p>“Yeah,” Evie assured him softly. “I just… needed some air.”</p><p>“Me, too,” Jay said with a careful smile. <em>She had been having </em>such <em>a terrible trip, </em>and even now he didn’t miss the glassy, post-tears sheen in her eyes.</p><p>“Are <em>you </em>okay?” Evie asked typically, her eyes flashing with some suspicion that Jay didn’t know how to translate.</p><p>“Yeah,” he shrugged casually. “Sure.”</p><p>“Because from here – sorry, we didn’t mean to eavesdrop – it sounded like you two were trying to…” she gave him a pointed look. “Work out some…”</p><p>“—Ruse,” Doug supplied.</p><p>“Yeah,” Evie agreed. “That.”</p><p>“I’m sure you can put together why that might be,” Audrey answered a little archly, but the hand on Jay’s arm tightened in her uncertainty.</p><p>“Oh, I can,” Evie agreed frankly. “<em>Really </em>easily, actually. <em>But. </em>I know how you run ruses, Jay; I’ve seen it before, a couple times up close and personal, right?”</p><p>“Sure,” Jay said uncertainly, having a little trouble catching up with the turn that this conversation had taken. “What about it?”</p><p>“I don’t remember you having whole conversations about if the ruses should end. You went in, you protected who you needed to, and you got out. So why aren’t you treating this the same way unless it’s… not a ruse?”</p><p>“Of course it is,” Audrey said, too quickly.</p><p>Evie’s smile only widened for a second, until it fell entirely, and she studied Audrey, saying thoughtfully, “You know… I get it. All of it, actually. The feeling of being trapped in your house with this person that you love who simultaneously terrifies you… the helplessness when they withhold food… I <em>know </em>what that is, and,” her head tilted to the side as she thought, a gesture Jay had long thought she’d picked up from Carlos. “You make a lot more sense now. Turns out you’re not such a bitch.”</p><p>Audrey snorted dryly. “Gee, thanks.”</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Evie replied just as wryly before continuing, “My point is, all four of us understand you a little better now, and Mal, Carlos, and I talked last night about a couple of things. We think we’d like to get to know you better, for a couple reasons, if—” Evie stood up with a purposefully casual shrug, one hand in Doug’s hand, the other gesturing pointedly to Jay. “—You know, you ever find a reason you’d like to stick around us. We might just become your friends if you’ll let us.” As she left with Doug, she called over her shoulder, “Just something to think about.”</p><p>Jay looked after her in slowly abating confusion. “That’s… not how that conversation was supposed to go.”</p><p>Audrey sat down on the bench that Doug and Evie had vacated, and Jay followed suit as she asked while watching him carefully, “Is she right, though?”</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“Any of it? All of it?” Audrey looked at him in genuine confusion as she asked, “Are they really willing to be my <em>friends</em>?”</p><p>Jay hesitated before asking carefully, “How did your conversation with Mal go?”</p><p>“It went well, actually,” Audrey answered, though the confusion in her eyes said it was taking her a second to make the connection as to why that mattered. “We – she – apologized, and we talked, got to know each other a little bit. It was good.”</p><p>“Then, yeah, as long as that keeps up and she doesn’t… start some sort of disagreement with Carlos and Evie or somebody else over you, they should easily be willing to get to know you. That’s the kind of people that Carlos and Evie <em>are</em>.”</p><p>Audrey smiled, murmuring under her breath, “Nice.”</p><p>“And, Audrey, for the record, you’ve always still had friends. Doug, Jane, Chad, Ben; they’re still there for you, just like they’ve always been. They’re <em>your </em>crew, and if you’d like to reconnect with your crew, you’ll find that Mal, Evie, Carlos, and I are a bigger part of that, an extension of that crew, so we’ll be there for you, too, because that’s the way having connections works in the mind of a VK… or at least in the mind of this VK,” he allowed.</p><p>Audrey gave him a sly look. She was listening, but also trying to bring a moment of levity to their conversation as she asked coyly, “Jay, are you saying you’d like to be there for me?”</p><p>She was teasing, but he wasn’t, searching her face as he took her hand, swallowing his nerves as he said earnestly, “If you’ll let me.”</p><p>She faltered, looking down at their hands, then back up to his face before asking hesitantly, “What about the ruse?”</p><p>“I want to stop the ruse,” Jay declared firmly, finding a moment of hope in the way that Audrey’s face fell at that declaration. “Because I want the ruse to become real. Audrey, I…” He hoped suddenly that his feelings were showing on his face, through his eyes, something, because despite all his recent speech practice, he couldn’t find the words to tell her exactly how he was feeling. How he was scared because what was between them felt more genuine than any of the relationships he’d been in on the Isle, how he knew there <em>was</em> something between them, but he also knew that she was guarded with her heart, and that there were some pretty good reasons for that. How much he wanted her to take a gamble on him anyway, even if she was afraid to open up.</p><p>“Yeah,” Audrey whispered, her eyes lighting back up as she brushed a hair out of his eyes. “Me, too.”</p><p>Her hand at his forehead moved to cup his cheek, and when Audrey moved closer, Jay smiled into their kiss and pulled her even closer.</p><p>“So,” she asked when they broke apart, resting her head on his shoulder. “I guess we should tell your parents this is… ‘real’ now… shouldn’t we?”</p><p>Jay chuckled, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Nah, foxy; they knew before we did.”</p><p>She smacked him on the arm for the term of endearment but kissed him again with a smile.</p>
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<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day was as close to a lazy day as Jay knew he was going to get while they were in Auradon state. The paparazzi had already moved on from the Ababwas to covering the Rose family’s shift in power from Queen Leah to Prince Phillip, and he had already given his own obligatory press conference, so he chose to hide out in the castle’s gym for most of the morning until he needed to get ready to hear a speech that Mrs. Radcliffe was giving.</p><p>“Where’s Mom?” Aziz asked Aladdin as the three Ababwa men met in the hall to walk to the lawn. “Do we need to wait for her?”</p><p>Aladdin shook his head. “She’s already there, talking to Mrs. Radcliffe beforehand.”</p><p>“About what?” Jay asked.</p><p>“Something those two have had planned since you came to live with us,” Aladdin said cryptically. “You’ll see.”</p><p>Jay and Aziz shared a confused look, but Aladdin wouldn’t tell them anything else, so they ended up in the crowd of royals with the sultan, listening to Mrs. Radcliffe just like everyone else.</p><p>This time, Mal was the one to introduce Mrs. Radcliffe, so Ben was free to join the crowd, too, coming over to the Ababwas with Audrey. Ben smiled, a nervousness that Jay couldn’t place at the edges of his expression and in his eyes, as Jay held out his arms, silently offering Audrey an embrace. Mal stepped down from the stage as Mrs. Radcliffe took her place, and as she moved through the crowd to Ben, Doug, Evie, Carlos, and Jane came with her. <em>They were a tight little group,</em> Jay thought<em>, literally and figuratively</em>, and he smiled softly at the idea as Mrs. Radcliffe began to speak.</p><p>“Thank you, honored ladies and gentlemen, for giving me your attention today.</p><p>“I spoke a couple weeks ago in a televised newsclip, asking that people who believe themselves to be related to a VK come forward and say so, and I’m here today to tell you that there have been a few cases where that has already happened.</p><p>“My associates and I are working through the Isle of the Lost Division of Auradon’s Social Services to bring VKs over into Auradon’s mainland, and presently we have <em>twenty-seven</em> open cases of children who are in the process of being brought into homes here. However, that only accounts for not quite a fourth of the children on the Isle. The undertaking of the ILD is a huge one, certainly far bigger than I anticipated when I first approached King Ben with a proposal for creating the ILD, and because of that, I’ve realized we need more help in the work we’re doing.” She held up a hand with a thin smile, saying, “You can relax; this isn’t quite another one of my requests for assistance. This is my announcement of a new addition to our ILD team, and as her first contribution to the work, I’m going to let her do the talking today.” She turned to the side of the stage, speaking to someone who was as-of-yet offstage as Jay suddenly beamed knowingly, and Mrs. Radcliffe bid, “Sultana Jasmine?”</p><p>Aziz and Audrey both turned, wide-eyed, to Jay, like he should know something, and Jay was only able to shrug, indicating that he’d known just as little as they had.</p><p>“Thank you, Mrs. Radcliffe,” Jasmine said from on-stage. To her audience, she began, “I’m not naïve to how I’m perceived by my peers. I know that I’m known as being blunt, and firm, and a little fiery, and I’m going to be all those things today, too. I know, also, what it is to be worried over the growing VK debate. I understand that there are concerns over who will be sitting next to my child at school, how our scholarship distributions will be affected, how our culture as a whole may change.</p><p>“But here’s my question: if we as a culture are so afraid to help children who are, in a sense, helpless themselves… <em>shouldn’t </em>our culture change? Shouldn’t we take a look at ourselves, and how we view these children who had no say in who they were born to, or how they were raised?</p><p>“Because I had to,” Jasmine said frankly. “I looked at Prince Aziz, at how the sultan and I were raising him to take our throne, and how I <em>know </em>that he’s going to be a great leader. And I was… comfortable with that thought. I was <em>comfortable </em>with my family of three, with the legacy I would leave, with the way I was perceived. But I also <em>knew</em> – I knew that there were children on that Isle who were suffering, who were stealing things, and being abused, and selling their bodies just to survive. And I <em>knew </em>that if I dared to look into it, one of those children <em>would</em> be brought into my home, would be <em>mine</em>. And I was petrified at the very thought.</p><p>“But I dared to look into it, anyway.” She smiled softly, eyes still burning with intensity as she caught Jay’s gaze in the crowd. “And I am <em>so </em>glad I did. It hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been comfortable, and I am sure that there are people whose respect I have forfeited, whether by bringing Prince Javan into my home, or even by admitting how he came to be. But he is <em>my son</em>, and I would do a thousand hard things every day for the rest of my life for my sons. I love this boy who’s come into my home. He’s the final piece that completes my family, and even though the process of coming into one another’s life hasn’t been easy, it’s been good, and it’s been made better because we’re doing it together.</p><p>“I want good things for all of you – for my royal peers, for Auradon’s subjects, and for the innocent VKs. But I think I’m tired of entreaties, tired of trying to ask you to understand these children when maybe we never will, tired of asking you to try to see things from their perspective when we may never be able to do that, either. So, I think I have a challenge for you instead – you, the people watching this from their homes, and <em>you</em>, the people on this lawn with me – because mark my words, it is a challenge, but it is a challenge that you’ll get an unbelievable return on.” Jasmine smiled at the crowd around the stage, and it was almost a smirk as she asked with a dare sparkling in her eyes, “Who’s going to step up for the VKs next?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really, really wanted to end Jay's story on Jasmine's speech, as an ode to "Speechless" and the live-action Aladdin movie, so here we are. Feel free to let me know what you thought of this installment in the series!<br/>Also, the answer to the story's last line: “Who’s going to step up for the VKs next?”<br/>The answer's Uma.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fun fact: I've got a constantly-developing playlist for this series on my phone, and in case anyone is interested, the songs that pertain to this story are as follows:<br/>One Jump Ahead (the official music video from the 2019 remake)<br/>Proud of Your Boy (seriously, y'all, this one is the perfect encapsulation of this story)<br/>Homecoming Queen by Kelsea Ballerini<br/>A Whole New World (also the official music video from the 2019 remake)<br/>Speechless (also the official music video from the 2019 remake)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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